Ray Wong, a leader of localist group Hong Kong Indigenous, was arrested in Tin Shui Wai on Sunday afternoon after evading police for 11 days.
The 22-year-old activist, who participated in the Lunar New Year riot in Mong Kok, was allegedly arrested for inciting violence online, while police seized chemicals apparently used in explosives from the flat in which he was hiding.
Wong’s whereabouts have been unknown after he posted a “final message to Hongkongers” on Feb. 11, in which he said he would “rather be a shattered jade vessel than an unbroken piece of pottery”, an idiom which roughly translates to “it is better to burn out than to fade away”, according to the HKFP.
Police visited Wong’s apartment in Tseung Kwan O a few hours after his message was published, but reportedly could not find him.
After being sought for over a week, Wong was found with an unidentified 28-year-old man in a flat on Tin Ching Estate by officers acting on a tip
According to the SCMP, the unidentified man was also charged with participating in a riot and assisting an offender.
Police reportedly seized chemicals used in explosives, an extendable baton, an electromagnetic gun, HKD530,000 cash, marijuana and 100 pills of part one poison (including medication for erectile dysfunction) as evidence.
Officers also found a Guy Fawkes mask, protective gear from “war games”, a computer, and circuit boards in the Tin Shui Wai apartment, leading to a bomb disposal unit apparently being called.
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