Hong Kong News
Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
Real, Diverse, Unbiased.
YouTube channel admits harboring riot suspects, hits back at police for smear campaign
A YouTube channel on Friday admitted they provided shelter to four riot suspects and tried to send the four to Taiwan on a cargo ship but failed, as they hit back at national police and mass media for smearing them.
Two videos were uploaded onto the YouTube channel Tuesdayroad Media on Friday, a day after national security police disclosed details of an operation in Sai Kung, where four riot suspects - including Tsang Chi-kin, who got shot in a 2019 protest - were arrested.
They were waiting to board a speedboat and flee to Taiwan when police intercepted them.
In the videos, two hosts said they had left Hong Kong on July 11, 2020, shortly after the national security law was imposed. The duo added they only met Tsang later through a middleman called "Spy" they met on Telegram.
The middleman knew the duo had been helping protesters leave the city and asked if they could also help Tsang between August and September 2020. The pair continued that they once suggested Tsang seek political asylum from the US Consulate General but were shocked to hear he was turned away.
They then said they had provided accommodations and three meals a day for the four suspects for almost two years. They even hired people to cook and deliver food to the four and bought them video games and DVDs.
The two hosts stressed they didn't charge the four suspects any fee but spent millions of dollars to take care of them.
They also admitted they tried to bribe a ship captain in December last year to send the four away and did ask them to shoot videos to explain their situations. Yet, the plan went public and failed as some others launched a fundraising campaign.
The hosts added they later lost contact with the four suspects and believed they were betrayed by the boatman, leading to the arrests.
The hosts then slammed police for smearing their channel and concentrated fire on mass media, asking: "Why would you believe anything national security police say?"
Senior superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah from the police's national security department said on Thursday that a group of social media users charged the four suspects HK$400,000 for the Taiwan flee bid and sealed them into boxes when transferring them between hideouts.
Other media reports said police are now focusing their investigation on the YouTube channel.
They were waiting to board a speedboat and flee to Taiwan when police intercepted them.
In the videos, two hosts said they had left Hong Kong on July 11, 2020, shortly after the national security law was imposed. The duo added they only met Tsang later through a middleman called "Spy" they met on Telegram.
The middleman knew the duo had been helping protesters leave the city and asked if they could also help Tsang between August and September 2020. The pair continued that they once suggested Tsang seek political asylum from the US Consulate General but were shocked to hear he was turned away.
They then said they had provided accommodations and three meals a day for the four suspects for almost two years. They even hired people to cook and deliver food to the four and bought them video games and DVDs.
The two hosts stressed they didn't charge the four suspects any fee but spent millions of dollars to take care of them.
They also admitted they tried to bribe a ship captain in December last year to send the four away and did ask them to shoot videos to explain their situations. Yet, the plan went public and failed as some others launched a fundraising campaign.
The hosts added they later lost contact with the four suspects and believed they were betrayed by the boatman, leading to the arrests.
The hosts then slammed police for smearing their channel and concentrated fire on mass media, asking: "Why would you believe anything national security police say?"
Senior superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah from the police's national security department said on Thursday that a group of social media users charged the four suspects HK$400,000 for the Taiwan flee bid and sealed them into boxes when transferring them between hideouts.
Other media reports said police are now focusing their investigation on the YouTube channel.
