The New York Times today reported that Alex Ho, a candidate with the Democratic Party of Hong Kong, was arrested in Dongguan on charges of soliciting prostitution. Ho has been sentenced without due process to six months detention, a period of time sufficient to disqualify him from participating in a local council election he was likely to win.
According the government controlled New China News Agency, "... Ho and a 25-year-old woman were found naked in a room at the Huiyuan Hyatt Hotel at 5 a.m." The Times noted that, "... mainland authorities are supposed to notify Hong Kong officials promptly of the arrest of a Hong Kong citizen, no such notification had been received about Mr. Ho."
According to Fred Li, a senior member of the Democratic Party, Ho was, "... held without access to a lawyer or to family members until he signed a confession that he had hired the prostitute..." Li continued, "... Mr. Ho initially refused to sign, but did so when told he would be released ... if he signed, and when threatened with prosecution for rape if he did not sign." Ho was not released, but instead was sentenced to a period of detention corresponding to government political objectives.
Prostitution, while illegal, is common in China. Were laws against it strictly enforced, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would lack untainted leadership in sufficient numbers to continue imposing itself on the Chinese people. The motive for the detention of Alex Ho is not prostitution, it is found in this statement by Times: "Democrats delivered a sharp setback to pro-Beijing candidates in neighborhood elections last November, and polls have suggested they will do well in the Council elections." Lacking a legitimate means to impose themselve on Hong Kong, the thugs who rule the CCP resort to bullying, which is their first instinct.
Posted by publius at August 18, 2004 05:02 PM