Wang Liqiang, supposedly a Chinese spy, seeking political asylum in Australia, claimed that he had a hand in the Causeway Bay booksellers’ kidnappings. He has asserted that his life would be in danger in case he returned home. Currently, he is living with his wife and an infant in Australia, on a tourist visa.
According to foreign media sources, along with revealing the names of senior military officials in Hong Kong, he provided details of the operations conducted by the Chinese spies in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australia. He claimed that Chinese authorities collect various personal and political information in order to crackdown the protests in Hong Kong.
Also confessing that he himself was involved in some of these espionage acts, he revealed how Beijing monitors and controls the media. Also, the Chinese spies had allegedly influenced the municipal elections in Hong Kong. A national daily reported on December 2, 2019, that Wang Liqiang said that Beijing spies infiltrate universities and other institutions to crackdown the pro-democracy movement, adding that “The goal was to make all troublemakers terrified.”
Wang’s claims caused a firestorm in Beijing. Many people from China condemned Wang for his allegations. In particular, Adam Ni and Yung Jiang, co-founders of a China Neican analysis website, said that Wang’s claims should not be taken seriously. Also, they added, “Many of Wang’s public claims are unsupported or uncorroborated based on the available evidence thus far. Some of his claims are not true, and some of his statements detract from his credibility. Circumstantial evidence has raised additional questions.”
They also questioned Wang’s claims branding his expose’s information being “general and vague in nature.” They supported their claim by adding that “The operations he mentioned are known in the public domain, and he did not reveal new credible details about these operations.”
Two other academics from China said, “He claims to be working for military intelligence but appears to be unclear about the work breakdown between the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Ministry of State Security (MSS) and other party-state actors involved in intelligence.” Interestingly, the Chinese authorities have refused to give any comment on the issue.