Simon Cheng (鄭文傑), a Hong Konger who was detained by China in August while employed by the British consulate in Hong Kong, on Saturday said that he had been followed by an “unknown person” while visiting Taiwan.
Cheng, who was in Taiwan from Aug. 30 to Nov. 29, on Saturday told the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that someone had begun following him after he told foreign media in Taipei about how he was tortured during his 15 days in detention in China.
The experience made him worry about his safety, but he remained confident in the Taiwanese government’s abilities, he said.
Screen grab from Simon Cheng’s Facebook account
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the British Office Taipei had warned it that he would be interviewed in the city.
While at Eslite Bookstore in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) Cheng noticed he was being followed by a middle-aged man who he had seen a few hours earlier at the nearby Xiangti Avenue Plaza, he said, adding that the man had changed his clothing.
While in the bookstore, the man — whose identity and intentions he was unsure of — was watching him while pretending to read, Cheng said.
He said that after being notified about the issue, the government arranged for bodyguards to stay with him.
Police said initial investigations found that the man was not Taiwanese and did not appear to be associated with any local pro-China group.
In interviews with the BBC and the Washington Post published on Nov. 20, Cheng said that he had been tortured by Chinese police to extort a confession.
“They wanted to know what role the UK had in the Hong Kong protests — they asked what support, money and equipment we were giving to the protesters,” he told the BBC.
Chinese police told him during his interrogation that many Hong Kong protesters who had been arrested were sent to China where they were being detained, Cheng told the Liberty Times.
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Dominic Raab had summoned Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming (劉曉明) over Cheng’s arrest and torture.
Liu has said the Hong Kong protests have “nothing to do with democracy,” and that Beijing never asked Hong Kong to change its laws.
Cheng said that the British government has canceled his contract out of concerns for his safety, as the job requires frequent travel to China.
There was also concern that his enthusiasm for discussing the Hong Kong’s government’s policies and the territory’s ongoing democracy movement were in conflict with the principle of neutrality that public officials normally adhere to, he said.
The UK government gave him a two-year working holiday visa, but he is in talks to secure permanent residence or citizenship, Cheng said, adding that he is also looking for a job with the UK parliament or a think tank.
He also plans to visit the US and countries in Europe to secure support in the defense of Hong Kong’s freedom and Taiwan’s democracy, he said.
Cheng said he feels safer in the UK than he did in Taiwan, but that he also loves Taiwan because he graduated from National Taiwan University, which changed the course of his life.
He plans to visit Taiwan often, he added.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition