A Hong Kong man who attempted to escape to Taiwan while facing charges linked to the 2019 protests has pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.
Tang Kai-yin, 34, appeared at District Court on Wednesday. His guilty plea came after he was transferred to the city last August from mainland China, where he served three years in prison for organising an illegal border crossing involving 11 others.
Last month, the former salesperson pleaded guilty to possessing materials that could be used to make petrol bombs.
District Judge Ernest Lin told Tang on Wednesday that it was “almost certain” he would face jail time. He adjourned both the explosives and perversion of justice cases to April 16 for sentencing.
Tang was one of the 12 Hongkongers intercepted by the mainland Chinese coastguard in August 2020 while trying to flee to Taiwan on a speedboat.
According to the case details read out by prosecutor Andy Lo, Tang bought the speedboat, gas, and a satellite phone for some HK$350,000.
He gathered those funds with help from someone nicknamed “Fai Chung” – Cantonese slang for a useless middle-aged person – that he met in a Telegram chat group called “Valiants 2.0.”
Fai Chung arranged two free boat-driving and navigation classes for Tang, and introduced him to the owner of the speedboat that was later used in the foiled escape. Fai Chung gave Tang HK$100,000 for the escape, while the remaining HK$250,000 was settled by Tang, Lo added.
Vessel ‘not fit’ for trip, judge says
The prosecution also said the escapees were caught on surveillance cameras loading petrol canisters onto the speedboat in the early hours of August 23, 2020, the day of the escape.
Lin questioned whether the speedboat could have made the trip if it had not been intercepted, after the prosecution said the boat had 600kg of gas left when the escapees were caught.
The judge also noted the speedboat’s lack of a cargo storage compartment and suggested the boat was “not fit” for the trip.
Tang’s lawyer said the defendant “only wishes to get the full one-third discount” off his sentence for his guilty plea, adding that his plea indicated his “attitude and position.”
He also asked the court to consider an upcoming Court of Appeal case involving two of the defendants in the speedboat escape case – Cheng Tsz-ho and Liu Tsz-man – due to be heard on March 19. Cheng and Liu are both appealing their sentences.
Lin said he would take the case into account. He adjourned Tang’s case to April 16 for sentencing, almost two months after the sentencing date he set in January when the defendant pleaded guilty to the explosives offence. The judge said then that he would hand down Tang’s sentence at the end of February.
“This case has attracted a lot of public attention. I do not wish to make a hasty decision or provide reasoning that lacks detail,” he said in Cantonese, adding that had not had the time to finish reading the defence’s mitigation documents.
Tang was ordered back onto custody pending his sentencing.
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