Japanese researcher's camera was 'smashed'

Having been forced to delete photos and his camera snatched and lens smashed, Japanese researcher and scholar Junzo Aoyama, for a moment, felt a threat to his life while capturing the protesters on his camera in Hong Kong on July 1.

"They said I can't take photos as they are not good for the students," Aoyama said in a recent blog on Shukan Gendai or Modern Weekly, a Tokyo magazine brought out by Kodansha, the largest publishing house in Japan. He was told such photos could put them in trouble.

Aoyama said they allowed only the permitted media to take their photos and not the others.

In his blog, the 71-year-old entomologist, who has been using Hong Kong as a transit point for the past 30 years for his study trips in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, spoke about his experiences as a witness to the demonstrations between June 12 and July 2.

"The protesters didn't want any discussions since beginning. They just want to draw public opinion in their favor," Aoyama said.

He said the protesters were fabricating facts to keep crowds motivated by claiming many of their friends were killed by the police.

"They (protesters) are trying to convey the impression that they are victims," Aoyama said.

Aoyama said he was "saved" from the protesters by an American journalist on July 1, because "it seems protesters are not so harsh on Westerners".

On Aug 13, Fu Guohao, a 28-year-old reporter from Global Times, was tied up, and verbally and physically abused by protesters at the Hong Kong International Airport. Aoyama said he used to like Hong Kong very much, but the recent incidents had left him with "an unpleasant feeling".

"I think it is necessary to carefully examine what is happening behind the so-called justice that the Hong Kong protesters are advocating."