A ringleader behind a thwarted bomb plot targeting Hong Kong police during the 2019 social unrest planned to flee to Taiwan with his team members to receive further military training if they were successful, a court has heard.
Plot mastermind Wong Chun-keung on Thursday told the High Court he started preparing for their escape five days before the December 8, 2019, date he learned fellow ringleader Ng Chi-hung had set for executing their plan to set off two bombs to kill officers in Wan Chai.
“When I learned of [Ng’s] ‘big mission’, I started arranging an escape plan for our team,” Wong said.
“I was thinking that we should team up with Ng’s squad and hold a second military training in late December that year, after we had already fled to Taiwan.”
Wong was testifying for the third day against his alleged teammates in the “Dragon Slayer Brigade” comprising about 10 “valiant” protesters.
Telegram group chat records displayed in court showed Wong sent details about a second military training in Taiwan to all team members, but some questioned its purpose.
The mastermind earlier testified that some of the members attended an initial military training run by a retired Taiwanese soldier on the self-ruled island between September 16 to 28 in 2019.
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Wong said some members asked him why the second training, said to be arranged by a woman identified as Christina, would be centered on strength-building exercises rather than the use of firearms. He explained that good shooters needed to be physically strong.
The court earlier heard Ng and Wong had finalized their bomb plot during a meeting on December 3 that year. Under the plan and division of roles, Wong’s team would focus on luring police to Hennessy Road during a protest, while Ng’s squad would shoot at the officers and detonate the bombs.
Wong said he had since begun to prepare the stock of gear, including masks, shields, and bulletproof vests, which would only be used once.
“As I planned to leave Hong Kong right after the protest [on December 8]this gear would not be needed for the future,” he said.
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