In what has all the hallmarks of a political set-up, Chinese police have arrested Alex Ho, a Democratic Party candidate in the upcoming Legislative Council elections in Hong Kong, on charges of soliciting a prostitute. The 46-year-old Ho was detained in a police raid in the early hours of August 13 in the southern city of Dongguang. He was allegedly found in a hotel room with Zhou, a 25-year-old woman.
| "Yup. They wuz nekkid. The both of 'em. So we tossed 'em in the jug." |
Ho and Zhou are now facing six months of "reform through labour" detention under a sweeping administrative provision that allows Chinese police to hold minor offenders without trial. The mainland and Hong Kong media immediately reported the "sex scandal" and the lurid details provided by a Chinese police spokesman who claimed Ho, "had sex with a woman in a hotel room and a money transaction was involved".
| ... which resulted in the entire population of Hong Kong stopping, scratching their heads, and asking as one: "What's unusual about that?" |
After speaking to Ho, Democratic Party official Fred Li told the media that Ho had only signed a confession because police threatened to charge him with rape if he refused. "From the way that the mainland security police handled the case, there are a lot of suspicious points.... We are shocked and disturbed by this, especially the speed with which he was jailed without trial," Li said. |