Commissioner Tang King-shing recently attended the 76th International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) General Assembly, held in Marrakesh, Morocco, as part of the National Central Bureau China (NCB China) delegation.

Joining Mr Tang were Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Wong Fook-chuen, Sham Shui Po District Commander Yu Mun-sang and Liaison Bureau Senior Superintendent Kwok Ho-fai.

Heading the delegation was Deputy Director General Xue Dongzheng of the Ministry of Public Security. Other members included representatives from Interpol Macao, China, headed by Mr Cheong Kuoc Va, the Secretary for Security of the Macao SAR.

Over 600 delegates from 144 member countries attended the assembly held between November 5 and 8, together with 11 observing institutions and organisations, including the United Nations and Europol. Marrakesh, known as the "Red City" due to the prevalence of the red ochre stucco buildings throughout, provided an excellent setting for delegates to develop new contacts with their international law enforcement colleagues and to renew old acquaintances.

The end of the assembly saw a number of presentations on the internal administration of Interpol, and the adoption of 13 resolutions covering a wide range of topics. These included a co-operation agreement with the International Commission on Missing Persons. There was also a discussion on Operation Vico, which used advanced technology to reconstruct the altered digital facial images of a man appearing in child-pornography photographs on the Internet. This led to the recent arrest of a Canadian man in Thailand, following a worldwide public appeal.

The General Assembly also provided Force members with an excellent opportunity to promote the 20th Interpol Asian Regional Conference to be held in Hong Kong between March 5 and 7, 2008, with many delegates expressing an interest to attend.

More details about the regional conference are available from the official website www.iarc2008.org.hk.

Memorandum on exchange

Mr Tang also took the opportunity to meet the Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Mr Tony Negus, and sign a Memorandum of Arrangement for an Exchange Programme between the two Services. Under this arrangement, superintendents will work alongside members of the other Force for a period of three months, to facilitate exchanges in their respective areas of expertise and to promote mutual understanding.