Hong Kong police said China’s coast guard did not cross into the city’s jurisdiction during the arrest of 12 Hongkongers in August, but refused a lawmaker’s request to disclose radar records.

No coast guard vessels from mainland China entered or stayed in Hong Kong waters on the morning of Aug. 23, the Hong Kong police wrote in a letter to pro-democracy lawmaker Eddie Chu. The police also said they received no relevant reports on that day.

The 12 Hongkongers boarded a speedboat bound for Taiwan on Aug. 23, but were arrested by mainland Chinese authorities for crossing the boundary illegally. They have been detained in the Yantian District Detention Center in Shenzhen for over a month.

Chu earlier cast doubt on the location and circumstances of the arrest, citing a witness who claimed that the coast guard made the arrest in Hong Kong waters, at “One Foot Row” southeast of Ninepin Islands.

In their response to Chu’s request for information, Hong Kong police described the lawmaker’s theories as “speculation.” The police offered no explanation for keeping their radar records private, only saying the data had been reviewed by the Marine Regional Command and Control Centre.

“[The police] don’t disclose information when I ask, and instead say I am ‘speculating,’” Chu wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “They are colluding with the unlawful detention by Chinese authorities, Hongkongers will not be fooled.”

China’s coast guard previously said that the 12 were arrested in Chinese waters at 21°54′00′' north latitude and 114°53′00′' east longitude.

Chu conducted a field trip to the Ninepin Islands on Friday, and argued that it was possible that the Chinese coast guard intercepted the speedboat within Hong Kong waters, then escorted it out of the city’s jurisdiction before making the arrest.

Hong Kong police were able to provide a “definitive account” of the speedboat’s journey, meaning they might have given Chinese authorities information so that the 12 would be arrested in Chinese waters, Chu said.

Hong Kong and Chinese authorities are hoping to legitimize the long-term detention of the 12 by accusing them of “organizing cross-border crimes,” Chu added.

The Hong Kong 12 are the first group of demonstrators from the city detained by mainland Chinese authorities since the imposition by Beijing of the national security law on June 30. Their case is awaiting formal arrest approval by the Yantian People’s Procuratorate in Shenzhen.

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