China / Society

Video reveals true picture of Hong Kong incident

By Ma Danning (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-04-23 13:58

Video released on Internet contradicts journalist's original account of the incident in which a mainland couple was arrested in Hong Kong after allowing their child to urinate in public.

A video uploaded last week on Ifeng.com has thrown fresh light on a high-profile incident in which a Chinese mainland couple was arrested in Hong Kong after allegedly attacking residents when the locals protested their child urinating on a street.

On April 19, a video on Ifeng.com titled "Chinese mainland couple fight with Hong Kong locals after allowing child to pee on street" went viral.

In the video, a couple, surrounded by onlookers, is seen holding a baby and shouting that the child could not wait any longer, and are also seen screaming at those blocking the family from leaving the scene. In an effort to make the crowd realize the situation, the couple is also heard asking whether anybody there had children.

The couple, Ye, 33, and his wife surnamed Fu, 29, has been identified as Chinese mainland tourists. The incident happened on Mong Kok street on April 15 at about 3 pm.

On April 21, Lvqiu Luwei, a well-known reporter from Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, forwarded the video via her Weibo account, saying that "this is the latter half of the incident. The couple was caught letting their two-year-old boy pee, and a passer-by took pictures of the child urinating."

"The father grabbed the camera and the memory card, and the mother slapped the passer-by in the face. Another passer-by who blocked the family from leaving the scene and insisted on calling the police was knocked over by the couple using a baby stroller."

The passer-by is a Hong Kong resident surnamed Wang, 29, and he claimed to be a reporter while using his phone to take the photos. The passer-by who was allegedly knocked over is surnamed Wu.

The case, the latest incident claiming to highlight Chinese mainland tourists' poor manners, quickly became one of the most shared topics among Chinese Weibo users after the influential blogger forwarded the news. Lvqiu's weibo report was also reposted by many Chinese media as "exclusive".

However, a new video uploaded on Ifeng.com on Tuesday night, which is 2 minutes and 22 seconds long and is said to be provided by Hong Kong's edition of Next magazine, contains some crucial information that the previous reports failed to cover.

The video shows that the couple had used a diaper to soak up the urine, and had later placed the diaper in a plastic bag. They are also shown explaining to the crowd that they had been waiting for a long time in the long queue in front of the public bathroom, but the two-year-old could not wait any longer.

Also different from Lvqiu Luwei's account, Ye, angry at Wang's attempt to take photos of his child urinating, tried to grab the camera but failed, and in the struggle the memory card fell to the ground.

Picking up the memory card, Fu allegedly hit Wang and Wu with the child's stroller for blocking her and her family from leaving the scene. Wu was hurt in the arm and feet, but was not knocked over. Police said the couple had not slapped Wang.

Ye was arrested at the scene for stealing a phone and Fu for attacking people.

After investigation, Ye was released without any charge while Fu was charged for allegedly attacking people. She has been released on bail, but has been asked to return and report to Hong Kong police in May, Hong Kong police officials told Xinhua on Wednesday.

 

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