Hong Kong Man with Asperger’s Syndrome Refused Entry to Macau for Remarks on Public Affairs

Hong Kong Man with Asperger’s Syndrome Refused Entry to Macau for Remarks on Public Affairs
Tsang Hing-kwong, a Hong Kong citizen with Asperger’s syndrome, was held for over six hours by Macau authorities on arrival on Jan. 11 over his past and recent FB posts and deported the same evening. Tsang Hing-kwong FB page
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Tsang Hing-kwong, a Hong Kong citizen diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, was unexpectedly held for questioning on arrival in Macau on Jan. 11. He was accused of “seditious (online) remarks” and was deported the same evening.

Tsang recounted the incident in a Facebook post on the afternoon of Jan. 13. he recalled taking the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau on the morning of Jan. 11, arriving at Taipa Pac On Terminal at around 11:45 a.m., but failed to check himself through one of those automated electronic custom checkpoints as he usually does.

Customs officers took him into a room where he had to surrender his HK ID card and told him that he would be handed over to the judiciary police.

About an hour later, he was escorted to the Cotai Judiciary Police Station, where interrogation by two judiciary police officers started around 3 p.m.

Tsang mentioned in his post that police questioned if a certain Facebook account belonged to him and then took pictures of his “Octopus payment card for people with disability” and “follow-up hospital appointment slip.”

For the next few hours, the police questioned him on his views on public affairs, such as Macau’s COVID-19 policies and Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, among others, and pressed him on the intentions of his recent Facebook posts. He replied it was just to voice his grievances, with a bit of mockery, and there was never any intention to “overthrow the government,” claiming that he did not participate in the anti-extradition movement in 2019. Tsang believes the Macao judiciary police must have started the case to investigate him in 2021.

Macau Police: ‘A Small Punishment as a Serious Warning’

By 7 p.m., Tsang was denied entry to Macau and made to return to Hong Kong by the HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Shuttle Bus at his own expense and told that this was a “small punishment, but a serious warning” that should he make any future political remarks, “Macau will not welcome you.” and threatened him with “further actions” if it happened.

Making The Deportation Public

Tsang said that his trip to Macau was purely for leisure, and he had not participated in any political activities in Macao.

Tsang felt he might not be able to set foot in Macau again in the future. “I can hardly believe a 2nd or 3rd-tier person (in the back row, not a high-profile figure in the frontline) like me was also targeted!” he exclaimed.

Many netizens were amazed at his being led away by the police for questioning. Some of them left a message saying, “There is absolutely no point going to such a fascist place anymore.”

Looking through Tsang’s posts in recent months, some of them are screenshots of news reports from Macau Television, which were used to satirize the current situation. There are also mockeries on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Hong Kong’s pro-communist camps, and other media remarks.

Among them, on Dec. 29, 2022, he satirized the CCP-style democracy. “The Politburo of the CCP held a meeting called “life within a democracy,” but in the end, there was just one person who could speak openly, what a good Chinese-style democracy it is.”

Famous for Lone Protest in 2012

In 2012, a then 36-year-old Tsang protested against the two free TV stations for following CCP instructions and obstructing the licensing of “Hong Kong TV.” Five hundred people were supposed to turn up ATV operation, but he was the only one who showed up. Netizens ridiculed him for being “one against a hundred,” while others praised him for his courage and commitment to what he says he will do.

In Aug. 2013, ATV was fined HK$1 million (US$128,000) by the Communications Authority of Hong Kong due to the infiltration and interference in its operation by the CCP forces. Tsang went to Tai Po ATV headquarters in person, popped open a bottle of Pepsi cola as champagne, and drank ecstatically.

Tsang Hing-kwong at Tai Po ATV headquarters popping a bottle of Pepsi to celebrate ATV's fine of HK$1 million by the Communications Authority in Hong Kong in August 2013. (Apple Daily Photo)
Tsang Hing-kwong at Tai Po ATV headquarters popping a bottle of Pepsi to celebrate ATV's fine of HK$1 million by the Communications Authority in Hong Kong in August 2013. Apple Daily Photo

Tsang came to Hong Kong from the mainland when he was a child. He was the only son in his family. He was sentenced to observe a “binding over” order for a year for committing some minor offenses when he was in Secondary 5. The psychiatric report submitted to the court at that time confirmed that he had Asperger’s syndrome and had problems socializing and communicating with others. He had to receive psychiatric treatment, took medication for a long time, and later even suffered from depression.

The Epoch Times has made an inquiry about the incident with the Macau Judiciary Police and is awaiting a reply.