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Hong KongPolitics

‘Aids, anthrax and semen’ alleged to be in second threatening letter sent to Hong Kong returning officer who disqualified Edward Leung

Investigators suspect powder sent in the mail to Cora Ho Lai-sheung’s office was just flour; it follows a letter she received on Friday with a razor blade enclosed

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Cora Ho, centre, rejected the candidacy of Edward Leung, third left, even after he had agreed to stop advocating independence for Hong Kong. Photo: Dickson Lee
Danny Mok
A returning officer who disqualified localist hopefuls for the Legislative Council elections was sent powder in a mail which contained “Aids, anthrax and semen” on Tuesday morning – four days after she had received a razor blade via the same means.

Investigators later suspected that the substance in the letter sent to Sha Tin district officer Cora Ho Lai-sheung’s office on Sheung Wo Che Road was just flour.

Ho, who is the returning officer for the New Territories East constituency, has become the centre of controversy after she invalidated Hong Kong Indigenous member Edward Leung Tin-kei’s candidacy for the September 4 polls.
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She rejected Leung’s candidacy even after he had agreed to stop advocating independence for the city and signed an additional declaration reinforcing his acceptance of Hong Kong’s status as an inalienable part of China. He was one of six localist aspirants disqualified recently, including Sha Tin district councillor James Chan Kwok-keung, who was also dismissed by Ho.

The threatening letters came after a tirade of online abuse via social media against Ho and fellow returning officer Alan Lo Ying-ki – who disqualified the Hong Kong National Party’s Chan Ho-tin.

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The mailed powder, which an accompanying message claimed was Aids, anthrax and semen, came after Ho received a letter of threat on Friday with a razor blade enclosed.

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