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BEIJING: A Taiwanese man detained in China and charged with “endangering national security” appeared on Chinese television on Sunday night (October 11), admitting to illegally filming military exercises in a city on the border with Hong Kong during the protests last year.
Lee Meng-chu’s relatives had said that he disappeared after crossing from Hong Kong to Shenzhen on August 19, 2019.
Hong Kong was then in the midst of months-long mass demonstrations against a law allowing extradition to China, the government of the territory and the central government of Beijing.
At that time, thousands of Chinese military policemen had gathered at a stadium in Shenzhen for exercises with armored vehicles.
The maneuvers had fueled speculation that China was deploying its forces to intervene in the Hong Kong riots.
“I took my phone to record some videos,” Lee said in the CCTV state television report on Sunday, interspersed with scenes of his alleged actions.
“I’m sorry. I’ve done a lot of bad things,” said Lee, with cropped hair, a blue shirt, and an orange vest with his prisoner number on it.
According to CCTV, he went to Shenzhen for the sole purpose of observing the maneuvers.
He reportedly recorded 16 videos and took 48 photos around the stadium. After sharing something on the internet, he was reportedly detained by state security.
Human rights organizations accuse China of regularly forcing detainees to deliver public television “confessions” in a country where the opaque judicial system remains subject to the ruling Communist Party.
The Chinese government has accused Taiwanese authorities and activists in recent months of supporting anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.
