Hong Kong protesters circumvent Beijing's crackdown on protective gear

HONG KONG - Gas masks, helmets, umbrellas, goggles: for anyone in Hong Kong, this is a checklist of essential protective equipment needed to partake in or document the anti-government protests that have plunged the Chinese territory into political crisis.So said Hong Kong police when they visited an industrial-equipment shop in the city's Kowloon region two weeks ago, according to the manager.

"There is no stock on the market" of gas masks, said a 43-year-old shop owner, who asked to be identified as Ho. He said he pressed manufacturer 3M's official distributor in Hong Kong to restock, adding:"I asked them for 100 but they only gave me 30."As protests become part of daily life, even in residential areas, demand comes from beyond the front line.The scarcest items right now are full-face gas masks, followed by respirators and goggles.

At a recent protest, Mr Lee said, about 20 police officers came to his stall looking for"laser pens or other dangerous goods". "They were organised and prepared radical individuals," said Mr Lee Kwai Wah, the senior superintendent of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, according to the South China Morning Post."The masks and shirts were used to hide their identities."

"All the shops and suppliers in the mainland already know there is a restriction on supplying some products to Hong Kong," he said, adding that his supplier had been interrogated by police and security officials in recent days. Alibaba, the parent company of Taobao, did not respond to questions from The Post about the supply limits. SF Express, a Chinese delivery-services company, declined to comment, as did Deppon, one of China's largest logistics companies.

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