Former Hong Kong politician ‘major backer’ of firearms purchase from US in ‘Dragon Slaying Brigade’ plot, court hears
- Eddie Pang, a core member of team led by second ringleader Ng Chi-hung, says former district council election candidate Edward Lau also paid for military training in Taiwan
- Prosecutors say training took place at university campus in 2019 as part of plot in which Pang and six other defendants agreed to plant two bombs in Wan Chai
A core member of a team that partnered with the “Dragon Slaying Brigade” to plot a bomb attack on Hong Kong police in 2019 has told a court that a former district council election candidate financed purchases of firearms from the US and paid for a few men to receive military training in Taiwan.
Pang said Ng then formed a new organisation with him and other frontline protesters whom Ng got to know in 2014. These included Edward Lau Wai-tak, who stood for election in the Central and Western District Council in 2015 but failed to win a seat.
Lau was in fact “the initiator and sponsor for [Ng’s] organisation and was said to be responsible for coordination behind the scenes,” Pang testified, saying the group had never been given an official name.
Pang said he was also told “all expenses for the military training in Taiwan, including tickets, food and accommodation” would be covered by Lau, who would also pay an additional HK$6,000 (US$770) to those who attended the camp held at a university campus.
The prosecution alleged that the two-week military training was held in September 2019 and was part of a plot by Ng’s organisation and the “Dragon Slaying Brigade” in which Pang, along with six other defendants on trial, had agreed to plant two bombs in Wan Chai on December 8 that year.
