A former police officer accused of spying for China in one of the former British colony’s highest-profile espionage cases has died, according to reports yesterday.
Top Chinese leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) paid tribute to John Tsang Chao-ko (曾昭科), whose memorial service was held in Guangzhou, after he died of an unspecified illness on Dec. 18 at the age of 91, according to the state-run Guangzhou Daily.
Tsang, also known as “Hong Kong’s first spy,” was caught in a “shocking” arrest in the midst of the Cold War in 1961 under the Deportation of Aliens Ordinance, Hong Kong newspapers reported.
A British special service unit arrested him after a tip-off from an agent Tsang worked with.
The agent was found at the border between Hong Kong and China carrying stacks of cash and microfilm, days before Tsang’s arrest.
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper said Tsang refused to consume drinks laced with drugs when he was detained in Hong Kong for about two months before he was deported to the mainland without a trial.
Before the arrest, he was the city’s most senior ethnic Chinese police officer and a deputy head to the local police training college. He had also just finished a training course at Cambridge University.
The colonial government alleged he was closely involved with a secret intelligence network in Hong Kong, but his activities had never been confirmed by the Chinese government, the Hong Kong paper said.
After returning to China, Tsang became a member of the National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber stamp parliament.
The Guangzhou Daily described him as a “comrade” in an obituary, but his past service in Hong Kong was not mentioned.
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