Hong Kong protests: student who was shot by police pleads guilty to attacking officer and trying to flee to Taiwan
- Tsang Chi-kin, 22, admits trying to seek asylum in Taiwan after being turned away by US consulate in Hong Kong
- Tsang was among group of protesters who ‘strenuously’ attacked police with hammers, pliers, rods and umbrellas during protest in Tsuen Wan on October 1, 2019
West Kowloon Court heard Tsang and three other fugitives had paid HK$550,000 (US$70,320) to a group of seven people, who they believed had ways to smuggle them out of Hong Kong, but none of the escape plans materialised.
Prosecutors said Tsang, then an 18-year-old Form Five pupil, was among a group of protesters who “strenuously” attacked police with hammers, pliers, rods and umbrellas during a protest in Tsuen Wan on October 1, 2019.
Tsang was shot in the abdomen after swinging a 60cm (24 inches), 323 gram (11 ounce) rod at Station Sergeant Tsang Ka-fai who had run out of non-lethal ammunition.
Tsang was released on bail after being charged with rioting and assaulting a police officer, but failed to report to authorities on October 24, 2020, as part of his bail requirements.
He and three other fugitive protesters – Fung Ching-wah, 24, Ansen Wong, 23, and Alex Wong Chun-yin, 17 – unsuccessfully sought refuge at the US consulate three days later.
One of the accomplices was warehouse worker Yip Ho, 35, who had prepared rented flats and industrial units to hide the four and bought them food and other necessities from November 2020 to July 2022.
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Yip was also responsible for moving the four from place to place in sealed carton boxes, the court heard. The warehouse worker later dropped out of the group over disputes with the other accomplices.
Another channel member, Chan Sai-tak, who has since moved to Britain, allegedly asked the fugitives to film themselves pleading for attention and financial assistance from the international community, failing which he would stop supporting the four.
The remaining members were only referred to by their nicknames during Thursday’s proceedings.
The four were eventually told to come out of hiding in the early hours of July 13, 2022, when a Taiwan-bound vessel was purportedly prepared for them.
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Police arrested the four in Sai Kung’s Pak Tam Chung soon after they took off in a taxi from a residential complex in Kwai Chung. Yip was caught later that night.
Tsang on Thursday pleaded guilty to rioting, assaulting a police officer and perverting the course of justice. Prosecutors agreed not to pursue a second count of assault following a plea bargain.
The two Wongs and Yip also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.
Deputy Judge Ada Yim Shun-yee expressed reservations over offering Tsang a full one-third discount on his sentence for the offences he committed in 2019, despite his guilty plea, noting that all of his co-defendants had already been penalised while he was on the run.
Yim also questioned whether the student deserved further remission based on two statements he made with police, which later turned out to be of little assistance in the apprehension of other suspects.
The four accused will remain in custody before sentencing in mid-October.
