Talk-show host Albert Cheng says that despite the pressures, he did not expect Allen Lee to quit
Commercial Radio host Albert Cheng King-hon, who quit talk show Teacup in a Storm after feeling 'suffocated by political depression', yesterday broke his silence on the departure of his stand-in.
Speaking of Allen Lee Peng-fei's decision, announced on Wednesday, to leave the show and resign from the National People's Congress, Cheng said he never expected someone who was acceptable to Beijing would also quit because of political pressure.
He told the South China Morning Post yesterday that he understood the pressure Mr Lee had been facing when he decided to go off the air after just two weeks. Mr Lee said on Wednesday he was no longer able to speak his mind freely.
'I didn't expect Allen would have quit the phone-in programme under pressure because I suppose he is a person accepted by Beijing,' Cheng said. 'I believe the incident was related to freedom of expression.'
Cheng quit on May 3, after saying friends had betrayed their political beliefs.
Yesterday, he said the pressure he felt two weeks ago was still there, but he would not be drawn on whether his departure or those of Mr Lee and Wong Yuk-man stemmed from an orchestrated, premeditated campaign.
