Vitasoy shares plunge amid boycott calls after Hong Kong cop stabbing incident

Vitasoy International Holdings Ltd. shares tumbled 15 percent after the stabbing of a Hong Kong policeman on July 1 that led to online calls for a consumer boycott in China.

A topic on Weibo entitled “Get out of Mainland, Vitasoy” attracted 120 million views as of Monday.

The plunge was the most since 2008.

The incident that took place in the Causeway Bay shopping district involved an unnamed 50-year-old male Vitasoy employee who used a knife to stab a male police officer from behind before turning it on himself.

The Vitasoy employee later died while the police officer was hospitalized.

Hong Kong’s National Security Department is now probing the video-recorded incident that highlighted the growing tensions between residents and the police.

Residents have been critical of the police for employing excessive force in pro-democracy protests that roiled the city before the pandemic.

The national security police cautioned citizens from mourning the attacker’s death, calling the incident a domestic terrorist attack.

An internal memo at Vitasoy extended condolences to the attacker’s family.

The soy-milk producer pledged to support the investigation.

The company, which was established in 1940 in Hong Kong, generated two-thirds of its revenue from the mainland last year.

It operates production facilities in Foshan and Wuhan.