A Belizean citizen is said to have been arrested by China for colluding with individuals in the US to interfere in the matters of Hong Kong purportedly. Citing local authorities, Southern Daily, the official Guangdong Communist Party newspaper reported about the arrest on Saturday.
According to the Southern Daily, the Belizean businessman, Lee Henley Hu Xiang, who lives in China, was arrested on November 26 by the Guangzhou State Security bureau in the city of Guangzhou for aiding activities that led to unrest in Hong Kong. It also said that he had colluded with crucial members of 'hostile forces' in the US in order to compromise China's national security. However, the newspaper did not provide any details on the matter.
A Taiwanese man, Lee Meng-Chu, an adviser from a small township in Taiwan, was also arrested on October 31 near Shenzhen city, said the newspaper in a separate report. He allegedly stole state secrets for foreign powers when he went to Hong Kong in August to support activities against China said the daily.
According to Reuters, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council said that Lee was under investigation for participating in criminal activities that threatened national security.
Pro-democracy protests have rocked Hong Kong since June this year, beginning with demonstrations against the extradition of fugitives from Hong Kong to mainland China.
The clashes between the protestors and the security forces reached a violent high in November, with Hong Kong Polytechnic University becoming the epicentre of violence between the two sides. Protestors announced a fresh round of agitations after the withdrawal of the police forces from the university on Friday.
In a commentary published on Saturday, the state news agency Xinhua said, "The attempt by those anti-China, Hong Kong chaos-mongering people to pressure China through exploiting foreign anti-China forces will eventually be a clown act, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."
(With agency inputs)
