Warning: The article contains graphic images and video
Two separate mob attacks in Hong Kong on a local lawmaker and an adherent of a spiritual practice banned in mainland China have drawn suspicion that pro-Beijing forces were trying to silence dissident views.
On Sept. 24 morning, Democratic Party lawmaker Roy Kwong got into his car at a parking lot near his home in the Tin Shui Wai neighborhood. He was suddenly dragged out of the vehicle by a masked man. Four others then cornered him: three began kicking and punching him, while another nearby held a camera to record the attack, according to Kwong’s recollection as reported by Hong Kong media. The attack lasted less than a minute.
He sustained injuries on his face, neck, hands, and feet and was sent to a nearby hospital by passersby.
Suspected Scare Tactic
Kwong frequently shows up to ongoing anti-government protests to help mediate between demonstrators and police during clashes.
Kwong said he suspects the attack was meant to intimidate him for supporting protesters, and that the attackers could be mainland Chinese who oppose the protests—which began three months ago in opposition to an extradition bill that many felt would erode Hong Kong’s autonomy.
The territory reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, under the express guarantee that its freedoms not afforded in the mainland would be preserved.
“Hongkongers won’t be scared off,” Kwong said while speaking to reporters at the hospital.
“As a lawmaker for Hong Kong people, it’s only our duty to protect Hongkongers. If we are attacked for protecting Hongkongers, students, and citizens, then it would be an international scandal,” he said.
At least 24 Democratic Party lawmakers have since signed a joint statement condemning the attack. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong government also condemned the attack and said local police would investigate the incident.
Attack on Falun Gong Adherent
Around 4 p.m. that same afternoon, Liao Qiulan, a practitioner of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong, was also attacked while walking in the Lai Chi Kok neighborhood.
Liao’s friend, surnamed Lau, was accompanying her at the time and recounted the incident to The Epoch Times: “The three of us were walking along Cheung Shun Street … Liao was walking behind us [Lau and another friend, Ms. Ho]. Then, suddenly, two unknown people walked toward us, holding a one-foot-long black metal object similar to a baton.”
“Intrigued, I watched them walked past me and Ms. Ho, and go straight toward Liao Qiulan,” Lau said. The two men hit Liao with the object several times as the group tried to fend off the attackers with their bags. The men then fled into a nearby white vehicle and sped away.
Liao was bleeding profusely from her head. Liao’s friends put a handkerchief on her forehead to try and stop the bleeding, but the blood-soaked through it as well.
Liao said that they had just come out of an appointment with the police at the Cheung Sha Wan police station to apply for a demonstration on Oct. 1, the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s takeover of China. She noted that the two men both had black cloths covering their entire face.
The faith group holds an annual march on that date to shed light on the Chinese regime’s ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China.
Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline with moral teachings and slow-moving exercises, became popular in China during the 1990s, drawing around 100 million adherents by 1999, according to state estimates. The Chinese regime saw its popularity as a threat to its authority and launched nationwide persecution in July 1999. Millions have been arrested and detained in labor camps, prisons, brainwashing centers, and other detention facilities, where they are often tortured.
According to Minghui.org, a U.S.-based clearinghouse dedicated to reporting on the persecution, over 4,300 adherents have died due to the persecution. The true number is likely much higher due to the difficulty of getting sensitive information out of China.
Although Falun Gong is freely practiced in Hong Kong, practitioners have in recent years reported attacks from local Chinese Communist Party front organizations, such as the Youth Care Association.
Kan Hung-chueng, a local Falun Gong spokesperson, expressed strong condemnation of the attack and said there is the reason to believe it was a ploy by Chinese Communist Party agents to silence critics of Beijing.
“From this incident and what’s happening in Hong Kong [protests] in the past few months, we could see that the Chinese Communist Party not only brutally suppresses Falun Gong and other kind people, it is also increasingly extending its black hands and shameless tactics to Hong Kong,” Kan said. “The whole world bears witness to all of this—the suppression and persecution of Hong Kong people are in plain view of the world.”
He urged local police to bring the attackers to justice.
The Hong Kong bureau of The Epoch Times contributed to the report.
From The Epoch Times
