Families of the 12 Hong Kong detainees must know they are not helping
- They should fire those anti-government representatives, stop their grandstanding and ask for help from pro-China figures instead of relying on those who have been shamelessly exploiting their situation for political gains
Have the families of the 12 Hong Kong people detained on the mainland taken leave of their senses? If their goal is to challenge and embarrass the mainland and Hong Kong governments, they and their political representatives have been doing a fine job.
But if they want to get their children back, or at least aim for their better treatment at the hands of law enforcement officials in Shenzhen, they are making the situation much worse, perhaps irreversibly.
Let’s get something straight. The dozen are fugitives from the law in Hong Kong, and have been arrested for entering the mainland illegally, reportedly on way to their real destination, which was Taiwan.
They are not victims of political persecution, but suspects wanted in connection with offences allegedly committed during last year’s anti-government protests. The families may ask for humane treatment of their children, but they are not in any position to demand special treatment.
02:58
Family of 12 detained Hongkongers say government lied about capture
The families’ latest antic was to protest outside the Government Flying Service headquarters, having accused the service of collusion with Hong Kong police and mainland authorities to “trap” the dozen, leading to their arrests in late August.
Previously, they filed a complaint over their “unfair” treatment at the public security bureau in Shenzhen’s Yantian district.
If their conspiracy theory were true, it meant the police deployed GFS helicopters to track the escape vessel. Instead of arresting them, they deliberately let mainland marine authorities seize them, either in Hong Kong or mainland waters.
The fact that the fugitives have been captured and are being brought to justice is par for the course.
Hong Kong residents, protesters flock to Taiwan, but is it the right destination?
The families are in no position to demand radar data from GFS, an absurd demand apparently thought up by the usual anti-government figures who claim to represent them.
These activists know full well that they and mainland authorities treat each other with mutual contempt and disregard. They don’t even dare go over the border to negotiate with officials in Shenzhen.
Instead, they have been shamelessly exploiting the families’ grief and anger and turning them into another political campaign. It certainly fits with their anti-government and anti-China agenda, but they must know they are not helping those 12, rather they are hurting their case.
The families should fire those anti-government activists and politicians, stop their grandstanding and ask for help from pro-China figures while they still can.
