Hongkong Post announced that a set of postage stamps featuring the People’s Liberation Army’s Hong Kong Garrison will go on sale in a fortnight.
The stamps commemorate the 20th anniversary of the stationing of Chinese forces in the city.
Some 500 soldiers crossed the border at midnight on July 1, 1997, when the city’s sovereignty was transferred from Britain to China.
‘The mighty and civilised forces’
This year’s stamps feature insignia from the army, navy and air force, and praise the garrison as “the mighty and civilised forces.”
“The Hong Kong Garrison has adhered to the guiding principle of ‘one country, two systems’,” wrote Hongkong Post in a statement on Monday.
“[It has] strictly abided by the Basic Law and the Garrison Law in discharging its defence functions in the HKSAR and upheld national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and the security of Hong Kong.”
It is not the first time that Hongkong Post has issued commemorative stamps featuring the garrison. The government department first did so in 2004, selling sets of six stamps where soldiers were shown interacting with children and citizens.
Some internet users mocked the stamps with references to the Tiananmen Square Massacre, where – almost exactly 28 years ago – the same forces cracked down on student protesters. “The People’s Liberation Army’s most successful campaign was June 4,” wrote one commenter on the Facebook page of local outlet Stand News.
Cover sheets for the stamps will be sold for HK$1.30 each at all post offices across the city beginning on Tuesday.
The stamps themselves will be sold for HK$10 each beginning on June 20, while presentation packs will be sold for HK$22 each.
