Next Digital’s founder Jimmy Lai Chi-ying was followed 24/7 by 10 suspicious people with five vehicles wandering around the Apple Daily complex for two consecutive days.

Identity of one of them was “researcher” of an unknown media “Kingsman Media Company”, but he refused to tell why they followed Lai.

The five vehicles include a white Toyota, which has been parking outside the front gate of the complex since 8am yesterday (June 16), inside which four men kept taking photos and videos of the complex.

About an hour later, the four men stood aside and took videos as a group of pro-Beijing protesters gathered outside the complex with banner showing “eradicate traitors”.

Two of the quartet immediately returned to the Toyota after they saw Lai’s vehicle leaving the complex few hours later to tail Lai.

Another two stayed and wandered outside the complex. One of them, after being stopped by Apple Daily reporters, showed a simple staff card with the name Robert Lee XX-yip and the title “researcher” of “Kingsman Media Company”, sole owner of which was called Zhu Zongjie.

Lee’s media pass was issued on Monday, and his name was identical to a senior constable who served the police force for more than 30 years.

Zhu’s name, together with his ID number which started with “R”, showed that he might immigrate from the Mainland.

“We’re just working. Don’t ask us that much,” he said, but did not respond to questions regarding his purpose and where the company was.

Those who followed Lai to his home by vehicles said they were reporters, but they neither showed any press cards nor revealed which media they belonged to.

Reporters visited the “address” of Kingsman Media just to see a serviced office, and saw no signs of that media institution at all.

Tailing of Lai happened in less than two weeks after activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung and pro-democracy lawmaker Jeremy Tam Man-ho were followed and taken videos.

Spokesman of a website truthmedia.news, having similar Chinese name as Kingsman, replied that it was an independent media in Taiwan and are not related to the incident.

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