A well-known Hong Kong protester who earned the moniker of “Grandma Wong” has made her first public appearance in 14 months after vanishing in around August last year.
Human rights organisations had raised fears about where Alexandra Wong, who could often be seen brandishing a British flag at democracy demonstrations, was.
The 64-year-old has now revealed she was detained in the border city of Shenzhen in mainland China last August where she was allegedly mentally abused and made to disavow her activism in writing.
She held an emotionally charged press conference in Hong Kong on Saturday where she explained she was initially detained by the Shenzhen authorities for 45 days without being informed of what she was being charged with.
Ms Wong said: “I was afraid I would die in that detention centre”.
When the 45 days drew to a close, she said she was told to tell the camera she hadn’t been tortured, and she would no longer protest or speak to the press – adding that she was also sent on a “patriotic tour” of Shaanxi province during her time on the mainland.
Ms Wong said: “I won’t give up fighting. After all, there will be sacrifice, otherwise… the authoritarian system won’t be changed.”
She was blocked from going to Hong Kong for a year after she was allowed out on bail but these rules ran out last month.
The protester urged the authorities to release 12 Hong Kong activists who the mainland authorities detained in August.
Ms Wong, who had Union Jack flags pinned to her clothes and bags during demonstrations, could routinely be seen on the frontlines of protests which saw millions take to the streets. The bespectacled campaigner was sometimes involved in fraught standoffs between police and protesters.
Shanghai Zoo worker mauled to death by bear in front of busy tourist bus
A bear at Shanghai’s wildlife park attacked and killed a zoo employee in front of tourists.
The attack took place on Saturday in the park’s “wild beasts area”, an open area for bears where they can roam freely while tourists visit in specialised vehicles. At the time of the incident several tourists were in the area.
In a video going viral on the Chinese social media site Weibo, the visitors can be heard screaming in fear from inside the bus as they watched a bunch of bears gathering. Someone’s heard yelling “what is going on?”
The video does not show how the employee died. However, one horrified visitor claimed on Weibo that he saw the bears maul and eat the body of the zoo care worker.
The park confirmed a worker died in the attack but gave no further details.
In a statement on its website, the Shanghai Wildlife Park said it was «extremely distressed that such a tragedy occurred», adding that it also «apologised to tourists for any inconvenience caused».
The park says it is currently looking into the incident, and would seek to improve its safety management and «do our best to handle the aftermath of the incident».
The park has also temporarily closed down the “wild beast area”.
Occupying 374 acres, Shanghai Wild Animal Park keeps more than 100,000 animals with more than 200 species, according to its website.
The viral video started a discussion online where some questioned the zoo’s safety method while others questioned the very basis of keeping animals locked in visitors to see.
Even though such attacks are rare in China, there have been several incidents where a person has been attacked by wild animals.
