THE cancellation of pro-democracy activist Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong's home visit permit would have slipped away unnoticed, if only China had decided to keep it quiet.
It hadn't been Mr Tsoi's intention to publicise the issue and complicate further the case of unionist Han Dongfang.
''It would be better to let things cool down a bit,'' he thought on his return trip from Guangzhou, after the immigration office there seized his permit - a document for travel to the mainland.
''I believed that I might be able to recover the permit if I came back to Hong Kong. I planned to re-apply to the China Travel Service - the issuing agent - after the Han case had been solved.
''After I saw the statement of the Public Security Ministry [PSM] on August 27, I decided that I should speak out about my case.'' Speaking at the office of Legislative Councillor Lau Chin-shek, for whom he works as an aide, Mr Tsoi said that the PSM statement accusing him of collaborating with the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movement in China to assist Mr Han, had deliberately covered up the truth.
Mr Tsoi, a long-time activist since his university days back in 1985, decided to go with Mr Han to Huizhou to help arrange transport to Beijing. He admitted that they had selected the checkpoint to prevent too much attention being given to Mr Han's background as a prominent pro-democracy figure.
''I was psychologically prepared for some trouble in the customs office but I never expected any after we had passed the immigration checkpoint and arrived at Guangzhou.'' The pair were woken up by about a dozen PSM officers early the next morning and were questioned separately for more than 10 hours.
