A reporter for the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times was beaten by an unidentified man wielding an aluminum softball bat on May 11, in an attack believed to be orchestrated by the Chinese regime in its latest attempt to silence the publication’s reporting.
Sarah Liang outside her residential building when the assault took place at noon on Tuesday. The assailant swung the bat at her more than 10 times before fleeing in a car. The assault lasted about a minute and Liang was left with bruises on both of her legs.
Sarah Liang, a reporter for the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times, shows her bruised legs outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong on May 11, 2021. (Song Pi-lung/The Epoch Times)
The incident is the latest in a string of attacks on Epoch Times facilities and reporters in Hong Kong—all suspected of being organized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as part of its campaign to thwart the outlet’s reporting in the city. The publication, one of the few independent outlets in Hong Kong, is known for reporting on political infighting, corruption, and human rights abuses committed by the communist regime
Hong Kong journalist injured in ‘drive-by’ baseball bat attack
Press body expresses anger at broad daylight assault on reporter from The Epoch Times, a newspaper which is often critical of Beijing.
A reporter for a newspaper critical of Beijing was attacked in the street outside her Ho Man Tin home by an unknown assailant wielding a baseball bat on Tuesday.
Epoch Times reporter Leung Zhen was attacked by a man wielding a baseball bat from a passing vehicle, according to a witness who spoke to the newspaper. She was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital and suffered bruising to her legs.
[Photo: The Epoch Times.The attack lasted around one minute, after which the assailant returned to the vehicle which he came in and sped off, the witness said.]
Leung, who is also head of the Hong Kong Association of Falun Dafa, accused the Chinese Communist Party of orchestrating the attack: “We are experiencing these kinds of triad-style scare tactics to try and intimidate Hong Kong journalists from speaking out,” Leung told reporters outside the hospital.
The journalist said she had reported the incident to the police and passed on details of the vehicle’s registration plate: “We hope the police will catch the perpetrator as soon as possible, so the government can reassure the international community that Hong Kong is a safe place.”
The Epoch Times is a media outlet affiliated to the Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned and persecuted on mainland China.
‘Bring perpetrator to justice’
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) expressed serious concern about the attack: “The association expresses anger at the incident and strongly condemns violence against media,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The association also urged on the police to investigate the incident to “bring the perpetrator to justice”.
hongkongfp.com/2021/05/11/hong-kong-journalist-injured-in-drive-by-baseball-bat-attack/
This is not the first attack on Epoch Times in Hong Kong.
Among other incidents, the press itself was attacked about a year and a half ago.
Arson attack on Hong Kong Independent news paper Epoch Times
Nov 21, 2019
h/t Lily