A man has been charged after being arrested for allegedly flying an unregistered drone on the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong’s Handover from Britain to China.
The 32-year-old from mainland China was taken to the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday morning to face four charges under the Small Unmanned Aircraft Order. He was apprehended on Monday after officers patrolling the Wan Chai waterfront saw a drone flying at 8.40 am, police said.
According to the charge sheet, the arrested man was engineer Wu Yongjian who lives in Hong Kong. Wu was said to have operated a DJI drone at the Wan Chai pier on Monday. He pleaded guilty to all charges and will return to court on July 16 for sentencing.
The drone was spotted shortly after a government flag-raising ceremony was held at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai at 8 am to mark 27 years since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule. Chief Executive John Lee and his wife, and former Hong Kong leaders Carrie Lam, Leung Chun-ying and Donald Tsang were among those in the front row for the event.
Police said on Monday night that the mainland Chinese man had been charged with flying an unregistered drone, flying a drone without registering as a pilot, flying a drone in a restricted area without permit and failing to keep the drone within line of sight.
The Small Unmanned Aircraft Order, which came into force in June 2022, prohibits any flight of a small unmanned aircraft within a restricted flying zone without permission. Those convicted may face a fine of HK$100,000 and two years behind bars.
Hong Kong authorities imposed a citywide drone ban during the visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping on July 1, 2022, to mark the 25th Handover anniversary and inaugurate Lee and his administration.
The police said on Monday they would not tolerate any behaviour endangering public safety and aviation security.
“Police will take decisive measure to combat illegal behaviour relating to the Small Unmanned Aircraft Order. Citizens should not test the law,” a Chinese statement from the police read.
