Chinese tourist Ma Zhongfei (馬中飛), who was released on Tuesday by Taiwanese prosecutors after being arrested the previous day for allegedly spying at an armed forces recruitment center, complained about his treatment in Taiwan in an interview with the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po after his return to China on Wednesday.
In the interview, Ma complained about being handcuffed on Monday and said in a separate call-in to a Taiwanese political talk show that he would not come to Taiwan if he were summoned by court.
Ma, chairman of a high-tech company in China reportedly named Guangdong Sikeda Technologies Co Ltd (廣東思科達信息技術有限公司), came to Taiwan on a nine-day tour and was originally scheduled to leave Taiwan on Tuesday. He left his tour group on Monday afternoon, saying he was going to Sindian (新店), Taipei County, to pay his respects to a deceased Taiwanese friend.
As he walked along Keelung Road in Taipei, he stopped at a recruitment center and took pictures inside the center and in an adjacent military compound that was off-limits to visitors.
Ma was detained for questioning by military police. He was later sent to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and handed over to the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office, which ordered his release on Tuesday.
Ma flew to Hong Kong later the same day and spent a night there before returning to his home in Guangzhou.
MA’S VERSION
“I entered the Armed Forces Recruitment Center out of curiosity when I saw the banner advertising a [monthly] salary of NT$40,000 [for a soldier],” Ma was quoted as saying in the interview published on Thursday.
“I’ve always been interested in military stuff,” he said.
“A soldier asked if he could help me and I asked if I could look around and take pictures. He agreed,” Ma said.
Ma said he looked through an emergency exit that had been left open and saw military vehicles parked on the training ground, with some people in civilian clothes jogging. He said he took pictures of that.
“A woman came up and asked if I needed anything. I said I was just looking around. She told me taking pictures was prohibited in that area and got nervous when she detected my mainland accent,” Ma was quoted as saying.
Several military officers rushed to the scene, deleted the pictures and confiscated the memory card in his camera, Ma said.
A colonel surnamed Hu (胡) told him that taking pictures at restricted areas of a military compound was a serious offense and called the police, Ma said, adding that after looking at his passport and asking some basic questions, two police officers told him he could be charged for spying or trespassing in a military compound.
Ma said he was then brought to Military Police headquarters for questioning and was later informed that he would be handed over to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
‘PRO-GREEN’
“While I was being taken to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, I was handcuffed and a reporter from a pro-green newspaper took my pictures,” Ma told the Wen Wei Po.
“A [Taiwanese] legislator told me that the prosecutor who questioned me [at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office] was a supporter of the green camp and could have informed the newspaper right away,” he said.
After questioning at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, Ma said he was taken back to the Military Police headquarters and spent the night in detention.
On Tuesday, he was handed over to the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office, he said. Prosecutor Tseng Chun-tseh (曾俊哲) took Ma back to the recruitment center to reconstruct his movements before further questioning.
“The prosecutor asked if I intentionally went into the restricted area and if I knew it was a restricted area. I said ‘no’ to both questions,” Ma said in the interview. “The prosecutor then gave me my camera back, but kept the memory card.”
“I was then told I was free to go, but [the prosecutor] didn’t explain why,” Ma said, adding that he left Taiwan later that day.
“I’m very upset about how some media outlets tried to portray me as a spy and about being handcuffed while I was transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office,” he said.
Ma also called the call-in show 2100 The Public Speaking Out (2100全民開講) on Wednesday night and said that when the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors’ Office made the decision about his custody, it did not mention anything about him having to return to Taiwan for questioning.
Asked whether he would return to Taiwan to face questioning if that were required of him, Ma said: “Not unless somebody treats me to a meal.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LIN CHING-CHUAN
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