Liu Xiaobo

2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Liu Xiaobo is a writer, professor, and political dissident. In 2009, Liu was sentenced to 11 years for inciting subversion because of his involvement in writing Charter 08, a petition advocating political reform in China. Liu was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for “his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.”

News›Hong Kong

HUMAN RIGHTS

Hong Kong journalists, activist beaten outside home of wife of dissident Liu Xiaobo

Campaigner also attacked and taken away after trying to visit wife of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo

Saturday, 09 March, 2013, 6:25am

Verna Yu in Beijing

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TVB cameraman Tam Wing-man is attacked in Beijing yesterday.

Two Hong Kong journalists were beaten by unidentified men in Beijing yesterday while filming Hong Kong activist Yang Kuang's attempt to visit Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo's wife, who has been under extralegal house arrest for more than two years, the activist and journalists said.

Yang's whereabouts were unknown last night. A witness, a mainland activist who requested anonymity, said while Yang was waiting for a taxi shortly after 10pm a dozen men attacked him. He was taken away in a police car afterwards, the activist said.

Another activist, Hu Jia, posted on his microblog a picture he claimed to be the moment Yang was put in the police car.

A person who answered the phone at Yangfangdian police station, which detained Yang on Thursday night, said he was not there. Yang's mobile phone was switched off late last night. The Yuegezhuang police station near where Yang was picked up also denied he was there.

The Hong Kong government's Beijing office said it had not received a request for assistance from Yang.

Yang, known for his fight for recognition of the Diaoyu Islands as Chinese territory, tried to visit Liu after a failed attempt with three other mainland activists the day before. Yang, Liu Shasha, Zhou Ai and another supporter of Liu Xia stood outside her building on Thursday and shouted support through a loud hailer. They were later taken away by police and detained overnight at Yangfangdian police station.

Yang told the Post by phone yesterday afternoon that security guards at Liu Xia's residence refused to let him in after he registered at the gate and then about a dozen men came out of the compound to push away Yang and a group of Hong Kong journalists.

The unidentified men pushed Yang, before turning around to hit TVB cameraman Tam Wing-man and Now TV cameraman Wong Kim-fai, Yang said.

Tam said he was punched in the face, then pushed to the ground before five or six men trampled on him. Wong said they pulled him and tried to snatch his camera, before hitting him in the head. He said his camera was damaged during the scuffle.

After the beatings, the men continued to push the group of Hong Kong journalists away and yelled abuse at them, attracting the attention of bystanders.

Liu Xia has been confined to her home since shortly after her imprisoned writer husband won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.

The Hong Kong government said it was highly concerned about the journalists being beaten and would look into it.

Additional reporting by Dennis Chong

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as HK journalists beaten while filming activist

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This article is now closed to comments

white terror ! Mar 9th 2013
10:26am

As a nation which claimed to rule by law (the Constitution of the PRC) and not even 'rule of law' as in Hong Kong, I wonder why the wife of a jailer,Ms Liu Xia has been under house arrest for so long even though she hasn't committed any offences/crimes----just being the wife of a dissident/activitst ? Is our mother country---China---a civilized country that deserves respect from people around the world and all Chinese living elsewhere outside Mainland China or here in Hong Kong ? Definitely not ! Our cameramen who were beaten by unknown nasty guys(plainclothes cops indeed) outside Liu Xia's home is a shame to the authorities in Beijing during the two imporant meetings as this news will soon spread all over the world-----demonstrating how barbaric our government in China still remain---though they rose from revolting peasants in the last century !

captam Mar 9th 2013
10:12am

Why can't Hong Kong reporters stick to investigating Hong Kong's problems and mismanagement? There are plenty of opportunities for good stories on local government failures and Hong Kong imperfections.
Some of these Hong Kong journalists' unhealthy obsession for interfering in internal Mainland affairs and their provocative actions by visiting and filming activists, suggests a hidden agenda.
We all know that China, just like the USA and many other nations, locks up people who their governments consider a threat to the State. There are still many detainees locked up in Guantanamo Bay as well as other secret jails. US servicemen Bradley Manning, a prisoner of conscience, has been locked in solitary confinement for nine months without trial (until very recently) for "stealing state secrets" and often kept naked without even a pillow in his brightly lit cell. This has been categorized as torture, and a violation of the Geneva Convention by Amnesty. On the other hand the wife of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who is detained under house-arrest, has enjoyed the comfort of her own home. Get Real!

thung01 Mar 9th 2013
10:38am

You saw HK journalists being beaten and kicked by mainland security thugs for doing their jobs, and this is all you can say? You can't possibly be a Hongkonger, so what are you? A paid Communist blogger?

RobinDeCaro Mar 9th 2013
12:06pm

It is inhumane and uncivilized to keep enemies on leash like stray dogs crawling and urinating on their corpses.National education never have this curriculum.
Respect them and treat them within the law,though they are dissidents.Insulting the others with different opinion reflects barbarism,low moral standard;and stupidity.

soonsiang.teo.1 Mar 9th 2013
10:42am

A few ex-colonial trash of HK trying to champion the course of Western democracy in Great China. This is an unacceptable act and switch action must be taken to weed out this kind of activities aim to undermine the stability of China.

chaz_hen Mar 9th 2013
11:10am

All you blind panda huggers: this sort of thuggery makes you thump your chest proudly in favor of china? This is the "national education" you want children to learn about? This is the kind of rule you are willing to live under once the CCP totally takes over HK in a few short years in the name of stability?
Have fun...

the edge of razor ! Mar 9th 2013
8:26am

Our freedom of press was rudely disturbed by these rascal-typed plainclothes who/which are employed to monitor any visitors of Ms Liu Xia who has long been under house arrest for her husband is being jailed in Beijing.What was wrong of filming /taking photos of activist, Yeung Hong (the captain of Bo Diao boat) attempting to visit Liu Xia.The beating of our cameramen in broad daylight is a demonstration of no 'rule of law' in Mainland China and a violation of the Constitution of the PRC.When cops came to the scene, the culprits were not arrested.Instead, our reporters were brought to the police station for questioning.It is learnt that the management company of the housing estate where Liu Xia lives is owned by Hongkongers.What a shame indeed !

jayb Mar 9th 2013
6:35am

the report says reporters were attacked at about 10pm (evening), the picture shows a day time picture. please clarify.

Sunny Mar 9th 2013
4:32pm

I guess this is all part of the ‘master-plan’ of the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘peaceful rise’ that is repeatedly spoken to the rest of the world to calm their growing concerns… The reality is that, if they don’t get their way, they simply resort to the use violence and aggression to shut people up. Brainwash the citizens about ‘external forces’ and ‘unpatriotic Chinese’ and get them to attack others who can already see the clear picture of the dangers of this archaic regime that has no place in the modern world and the international community. The only power the CCP has is through mind control of its citizens as revealing by thugs who run around beating people up. Who wants to be real friends with such a regime? And they wonder why so many Chinese are unpatriotic to China. It doesn’t take a rocket-scientist to work it out! I guess they have North Korea as good buddies!
People need to keep revealing the abuses and horrors happening in the mainland for the international community to see the true intentions of the CCP. I applaud these brave journalists to keep doing their work of exposing the truth of such regimes with such low consciousness that results in such inhumane actions.

gwaigwai Mar 9th 2013
10:49am

That's fascist Bullsh_t... I suppose you prefer thousands of years of serfdom, Asian style?