Hong Kong protests: man, 64, found guilty of rioting and wounding in Yuen Long attack
- Ching Wai-ming, an HKID holder living in neighbouring Shenzhen, accused of being among group of nearly 100 that stormed MTR station on the night of July 21
- About 100 attackers in white shirts beat up protesters and regular commuters in divisive incident at height of 2019 unrest
A 64-year-old man with past triad connections was found guilty of rioting and wounding on Wednesday for his role in an indiscriminate attack on demonstrators and train passengers in one of the most divisive chapters of the 2019 anti-government protests.
A deputy judge at West Kowloon Court convicted Ching Wai-ming based on prosecutors’ identification of him among a white-clad group of men wielding iron poles and rattan sticks at Yuen Long MTR station between July 21 and 22, that year.
The judge also dismissed the defence’s notion that the violence was an act of self-preservation, citing a lack of evidence that the victims had gone to the northwestern town to cause a disturbance.
About 100 attackers stormed the station that night and injured at least 45 people, claiming the move was to protect their homes while some black-shirted protesters were making their way back from a mass demonstration on Hong Kong Island against a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
A Hong Kong identity card holder living in neighbouring Shenzhen, Ching was seen in a white top and assembling with other assailants near the station that evening, just four hours after crossing the border via the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint.
He then stormed the premises at around 11pm, assaulting at least three people with his fists and a rattan stick within three minutes.
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Attack victim at Hong Kong’s Yuen Long MTR station recalls horrific ordeal
The accused then instructed his comrades to proceed to the station’s platform to go after commuters inside a stranded train, before leaving the premises alongside other white-clad men at around 11.14pm.
Ching returned to Shenzhen via Lok Ma Chau at 12.11am the next day. He was arrested on August 12 last year after entering the city through Shenzhen Bay Port.
Defence counsel Sher Hon-piu asserted the white-clad men were merely fighting “an eye for an eye” against “intruding” anti-government protesters, accusing police of deliberately ignoring the threat posed by the demonstrators.
Deputy District Judge Newman Wong Hing-wai found the claim unsubstantiated, saying the attack by those wearing white was so intense that their opponents could not have had the chance to “provoke” them.
“There was no evidence to show the black-clad group came to instigate violence,” he said.
“Even if the black-clad group went to Yuen Long station [with a criminal intent] as alleged by the defence, our society and legal regime would not allow the white-clad men to use it as an excuse for assembling together with weapons.”
While accepting that some of the responses by the black-shirted could be seen as provocative and exacerbating the conflict, Wong said the white-clad men had nonetheless disrupted social harmony by beating and intimidating their victims, hitting the station’s facilities with sticks and hurling hard objects inside the premises.
The deputy judge convicted Ching of taking part in a riot and a lesser count of conspiracy to wound, after finding insufficient evidence to support the more serious charge of conspiracy to wound with intent as advocated by the prosecution.
Ching was no stranger to the law, having appeared in the dock on 10 previous occasions, prosecutor William Siu Kai-yip revealed after the court’s verdict.
The defendant had 12 earlier convictions, including one triad-related offence, two for unlawful assemblies and five concerning violence.
The judge revoked Ching’s bail and adjourned the case until October 27.
Ching is the eighth person convicted in connection with the incident, with seven others found guilty and sentenced to up to seven years in jail by another judge last year.
