Hong Kong protester ‘Grandma Wong’ accuses mainland Chinese authorities of keeping her under house arrest for more than a year

A Hong Kong protester known as “Grandma Wong” has accused mainland Chinese authorities of keeping her under house arrest for more than a year, and forcing her to stand in front of a five-starred red flag for hours on end when previously detained.

Alexandra Wong Fung-yiu, also referred to as “Wong Po Po” by some media, has been a familiar sight at Hong Kong protests in recent years, but disappeared from the public eye last summer after she was reportedly arrested in Shenzhen.

She was taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital on August 11, 2019, after being injured during a police crackdown on anti-government protesters at Tai Koo railway station.

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In a press conference on Saturday, Wong, who has a home in Shenzhen and is also a Hong Kong resident, said she was arrested by mainland officers, as she entered the Guangdong city via the Huanggang checkpoint on August 14 last year.

“Some mainland officers took me to a big room, searched my bag and put everything on a table ... I was taken to a police station in Futian, was interrogated and signed a police statement,” she recalled.

Wong, who is in her early 60s, said she was placed under 15-day administrative detention in a Futian facility, before being held in criminal custody elsewhere for a further 30 days, until September 29 last year.

She said she was subjected to long periods of interrogation during the detention, focusing on her role in the Hong Kong protests.

“They asked if I went to protest with anyone, and did I see people using violence ... There were four teams of officers who interrogated me,” she said.

Officers forced her to stand in front of a Chinese flag for hours at a time and searched her Shenzhen flat, according to Wong, who was pictured waving the British flag at last year’s protests.

She was asked to sign an official document promising not to take part in protests and give media interviews.

The Post could not independently verify Wong’s claims.

A spokesman for the Security Bureau said the Hong Kong government did not comment on individual cases.

“Under the existing arrangement on the reciprocal notification mechanism, the mainland authorities should notify [the Hong Kong] government of the criminal compulsory measures imposed on as well as the unnatural death of Hong Kong residents,” he added.

Wong also said that from September to October last year, officers took her to Shaanxi province for a five-day tour of patriotic education.

Wong said she was released on police bail after returning to Shenzhen, on the condition she stayed at her home in the city.

She said that during what she described as her house arrest authorities repeatedly refused to allow her to return to Hong Kong.

Two weeks ago she was told she could return to Hong Kong, which she did on October 2.

Opposition lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, of the Democratic Party, called on the Hong Kong government to find out from Guangdong authorities why Wong was detained.

“I know Wong personally and I couldn’t see anything she said that was not trustworthy ... What she experienced was typical of how the Communist Party tackled dissidents,” he said.

“It was scary how mainland authorities could detain a Hongkonger based on her social activism in Hong Kong ... The city’s government must make representation to the mainland, even though I know that they would not dare to do so.”

But former Bar Association chairman Ronny Tong Ka-wah, an adviser on the city leader‘s de facto cabinet, the Executive Council, said the city could not interfere with the judicial process over the border.

“We’re not sure what the allegations are against her or what procedure she went through,” Tong said. “We can only comment on what is happening in Hong Kong, not what is outside of our jurisdiction.”

Additional reporting by Kathleen Magramo