Chinese Media Spread Fake News that Western Man Arrested in Hong Kong is CIA Agent

An American-accent white man was arrested in Hong Kong on the evening of Aug. 31, 2019.
An American-accent white man was arrested in Hong Kong on the evening of Aug. 31, 2019.

Footage of a man who appeared to be Hong Kong subway station on the evening of Aug. 31 has gone viral amid piling allegations of police brutality during another restive weekend in the city rocked by protests.

In the aftermath, Chinese media has spread reports that the man is suspected of being a CIA “commander” in Hong Kong, in line with Chinese propaganda that the ongoing protests have been incited by “foreign forces.”

“What charge is this? Otherwise it is unlawful!” the man, wearing a T-shirt and cargo shorts shouted, shouted in one video as he is escorted away by riot police at Lai King subway station.

“This is Hong Kong, this is not China!” he said in an earlier video while surrounded by at least five riot police.

In that scene, those police officers manage to wrestle him to the ground as he repeatedly shouts, “Do you agree with the rule of law?” Police then appear to use a zip-lock tie to restrain his hands behind his back.

Footage of the incident and its lead-up captured by The Epoch Times appears to show that the man was arrested after he refused to use another exit from the platform as directed by police.

During the incident, police told an Epoch Times reporter at the scene, “We are investigating,” without providing further details.

The man who is not identified spoke with an American accent. In a video by The Epoch Times earlier in the night, the same man can be seen in a subway car speaking loudly to other passengers.

In that video, he said he has been living in Hong Kong for 24 years and was on his way back home, which is close to Lai King subway station.

“Why does Beijing want to hurt Hong Kong people,” the man said to other subway passengers. “Why does Beijing want to hurt you?”

The man also criticized the Chinese regime for not fulfilling its pledge of allowing Hong Kong autonomy under the framework known as “one country, two systems” when it reverted from British rule in 1997.

“Why do they [Beijing] want to take away what they promised? They promised a high degree of autonomy.”

Chinese Media Allege Man is Suspected CIA agent

Less than a day after the incident, reports have circulated on Chinese media that the man is suspected of being a CIA “commander” in Hong Kong.

Popular Chinese news portal NetEase, as well as several other Chinese outlets, re-reported a news video by Chinese self-media Prism News, which alleged that the man was a CIA agent whose Chinese name is Bao Weizhong.

The news video appears to attribute to the information to a social media post made by a Chinese netizen.

The video also shows an image of a card which says “Press” and “Sveriges Radio” at the top, with a photo of the cardholder who is named as Martin Svenningsen. Sveriges Radio is Sweden’s public radio broadcaster.

Svenningsen could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Chinese regime has launched an extensive social media disinformation campaign against the protesters in Hong Kong, including running narratives that the protests are the work of “terrorists,” fomented by Western powers and “radical forces.”

Recently, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube suspended hundreds of accounts linked to a Chinese regime-backed information operation seeking to undermine the protest movement in Hong Kong.