27th May 2023 – (Hong Kong) Fu Guohao, a former mainland Chinese reporter, who became a public figure after being assaulted by protesters at Hong Kong’s airport during the 2019 unrest, has died by suicide in October 2021 at the age of 30. Fu’s father, Fu Chengxue, announced his son’s death on Toutiao, a Twitter-like platform, at the end of last year, citing depression as the cause of his son’s death. The elder Fu delayed revealing the news because he was “considering national interests,” he told the newspaper.
Fu Guohao gained national attention when he was attacked and detained by Hong Kong protesters occupying the airport during the height of the city’s 2019 anti-government protests. At the time, Fu was working for the Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid.
Recently, Fu Chengxue revealed that Fu Guohao had debts of 670,000 yuan (about US$104,000) before his death. According to Fu Chengxue, Fu Guohao was surrounded and beaten by “Hong Kong separatists” at the airport, and the “thugs” took his bank card and ID. Soon after, the bank card was stolen and used. “Didn’t he have a password? How could it be stolen so easily? Well, Fu Guohao’s bank card password was his birthday, and with his ID, it was not difficult to steal his money,” said Fu Chengxue.
Fu Chengxue stated that Fu Guohao had told him that the amount stolen was around 100,000 yuan, which included all his savings, such as Lai Sees given by his elders, three scholarships he received during university, his salary accumulation, and the 40,000 yuan he prepared for his trip to Hong Kong.
As a result, Fu Guohao had to rely on his colleagues and friends to borrow money to cover his expenses during his stay in the hospital in Hong Kong and after he returned to Beijing. “I personally helped him repay a female colleague who had gone to Hong Kong with him, 4,000 yuan. As for whether he still owed other colleagues money, I repeatedly asked, but he didn’t say anything, just impatiently said, ‘Don’t worry about it! I have grown up,'” said Fu Chengxue.
Fu Chengxue also revealed that he was certain that all the expenses that Fu Guohao incurred during his two trips to Hong Kong for work were not reimbursed by the Global Times. “This was his character. For years, Fu Guohao was working for the Global Times at a loss, and he was still a temporary worker. Could he resign?” asked Fu Chengxue.
Fu Chengxue continued that this was the reason why Fu Guohao had accumulated a debt of 670,000 yuan, including 430,000 yuan of principal and 240,000 yuan of interest. Fu Chengxue used his own savings of only 280,000 yuan and withdrew five months’ worth of his public pension to help his son repay his debts.