Beijing mouthpiece releases images in apparent attempt to undercut confessed Chinese spy and defector William Wang Liqiang
- Global Times publishes screenshots of a purported confession during a 2016 fraud trial
- Wang, who has defected to Australia and is seeking political asylum, has reportedly identified senior Chinese military intelligence officers in Hong Kong
China’s state media on Wednesday released images it said were of a man who claims to be a Beijing-sponsored secret agent confessing to fraud, apparently in an attempt to discredit his assertion that he was involved in intelligence operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.
Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times uploaded screenshots from a court video in which William Wang Liqiang is allegedly making the confession in an October 2016 trial proceeding.
Global Times is a tabloid under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily, focusing on international issues.
Wang has defected to Australia and applied for political asylum there.
“[Wang] confessed his fraud case involving 120,000 yuan (US$17,000) in a Chinese court in 2016, admitting he had ‘a weak legal awareness’,” the tabloid said, adding that Chinese local court had sent the video exclusively to Global Times.
