Taiwanese journalist Edd Jhong has claimed that five Hong Kong activists who participated in last year’s anti-government protests were currently “in the hands of” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council for the past two months.

The claim has not been confirmed by the Mainland Affairs Council, who said it would not comment on individual cases.

Jhong first wrote about the alleged detention on Facebook and later told Apple Daily Taiwan that the five protesters arrived in Taiwan on July 18 via the Pratas Islands, also known as the Dongsha Islands, a Taiwan-controlled atoll in the northern part of the South China Sea. But they have not been heard from after the Mainland Affairs Council took over the case, he said.

“They cannot be reached by those lawyers nor human rights groups that have had a long record of assisting demonstrators, let alone returning home to visit their parents,” said Jhong, who works at Taiwan’s Public Television Service. “If possible, don’t come to Taiwan.”

If they had been arrested at sea, the easy solution “would have been killing them,” he said.

“They did do something,” Jhong said, criticizing Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party. “But they want us — who know the truth — to shut up and not talk about it. If we don’t talk about it, no one will know how little they have done, and how many people object to saving Hong Kong.”

“Taiwan really cannot help and does not want to help you so much. You deserve better. Please find other ways,” Jhong said.

The claims could be concerning to Hong Kong protesters as Taiwan has become the most popular place to flee for those arrested in anti-government protests last year, that were triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill.

China’s marine police recently detained 12 Hongkongers in mainland waters who allegedly attempted to flee to Taiwan via speedboat. They were said to be remanded in custody in Yantian, a town located at Shenzhen’s border with Hong Kong.

The Mainland Affairs Council recently urged Hongkongers to enter Taiwan legally after the interception by mainland authorities. Council spokesperson Chiu Chui-cheng said on Aug. 27 that if people from Hong Kong and Macau needed to seek assistance from Taiwan for political reasons, they should follow pathways under the existing laws.

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