Mystery of the Day - Was Simon Cheng involved with a prostitute? - Review by an experienced customer
#NetizensVoice
(22 Nov) My friend Dodo Cat frequents brothels. He was shocked to find that he was unable to recognize the club Simon Cheng was seen going to in the CCTV clips released by authorities. Some equally ardent netizens quickly confirmed that the place was a massage parlor at Luohu District (An area near the boundary between Mainland China and Hong Kong), Shenzhen called Li Shui Yun Jian (麗水雲間). Dodo Cat, after confirming that the parlor was the one featured in the CCTV video, was relieved, “No wonder I couldn’t recognize it! This isn’t even a place that offers sexual services.”
To take our fact-checking to the next level, Dodo Cat provided me with links to popular forums frequented by sexual service providers and customers:
http://www.szyepuw.com/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=40,
http://www.szsn.pro/,
https://0755puyou.com/forum-38-1.html,
http://www.pushenbbs.com/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=38
The massage parlor in question could not be found anywhere. Only one mention was found through Google Cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UfD4FIFoUtUJ:fjhfjh.org/thread-87845-1-1.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=de
And ironically enough, this source proves that Li Shui Yun Jian is a real massage parlor instead of one that provides sexual services. Other evidence indicating how the massage parlour is just a regular one includes the price of RMB 386 for one session (Which is really high given the competition in Shenzhen), the facilities provided in the room (small, regular massage beds that are not designed for sexual purposes) and the physique of the massage therapists (strong and tough-looking women who are unlikely to let anyone touch them).
On top of the evidence I have listed, doors of compartments inside a massage parlor are not to be locked as required by the law. The partitions are also so thin that they would not have had any soundproofing function. If a video of Simon Cheng walking in that parlor is enough to have him prosecuted, then probably the parents who were seen bringing their kids to the parlor in the same CCTV clip should be sentenced to death.
Further, Li Shui Yun Jian is still currently open for business with no sign of suspension. This is either a blatant mistake made by the Shenzhen Police or another piece of evidence that proves it is just a normal massage parlor.
Some readers might argue that it is still possible for the massage therapist to have helped Simon Cheng masturbate, which is also illegal. A guy named Lei Yang who had allegedly masturbated under similar circumstances was beaten to death by police. Is it possible then that Simon Cheng was caught receiving a handjob?
Let’s look at another fact here - Simon Cheng was arrested 50km away from the massage parlor on the night of 8 August when he was heading back to Hong Kong and about to cross the borders on a high-speed rail train (https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-49417051). Before he disappeared, he also messaged his girlfriend saying he was approaching Hong Kong. Does it make sense for authorities to catch Simon Cheng red-handed in the parlor, let him go, and then arrest him again when he was 50km away? Dodo Cat, for instance, was always arrested on-site and sent directly to the police station with no exception.
It was not impossible that the police could have used Simon Cheng’s smartphone to text his girlfriend, but would that be even necessary? CCTV clips released by authorities also had another blunder - the only possible date that Simon Cheung could have been arrested was 8 August - the day when he visited the massage parlor for the third and last time and also the day when he told his girlfriend that he had boarded the train and was heading back to Hong Kong. But do we see clips of Simon Cheng being arrested on-site? No.
He was instead seen spending two hours in the massage parlor, handing the key back to the reception and leaving on his own.
People who believe that Simon Cheng was involved with a prostitute are ridiculously stupid. Frankly speaking, I think Simon Cheng should write a thank you letter to the Shenzhen police, as those CCTV clips quite effortlessly proved his innocence.
For people of Hong Kong, British people or just anyone from a “normal” country, it does not really matter whether Simon Cheng was involved with a prostitute. This is just another story of “framing” those who do not obey the CCP. Instead of a case that involves actual sexual services, this is more like a case of an innocent person being kidnapped by authorities from Mainland China within the geographical borders of Hong Kong without informing his family or lawyers. This is a case of a person being forced to admit to committing a crime that was not actually committed through the use of violence both physical and structural. This case, however, did not succeed in smearing Simon Cheng, it simply revealed how stupid the people who sought to frame him in the beginning were.
A similar case happened in 2015 when owners of a bookstore that sold political publications of sensitive content were “abducted” from Hong Kong. They somehow admitted to committing crimes of all sorts later. One of the arrestees Li Bo claimed that he smuggled himself into Mainland China to surrender himself, which let’s just say was completely unnecessary and bizarre. The bookstore owner Lam Wing-Kee later said that the CCP was after the list of people who were buying books from the store. This was an alarming threat to freedom of speech in Hong Kong, and it is even more alarming how people still don’t understand why people of Hong Kong have been protesting for months.
Source: Outstanding PR - a local facebook page
https://bit.ly/33eCy6F
#SimonCheung #LiBo #Kidnapped