Christian activist in Hong Kong says he was tortured by Chinese agents for supporting Liu Xiaobo's wife

A Protestant member of Hong Kong's Democratic Party has claimed that he was tortured by Chinese agents for his support for Liu Xia, the wife of the recently deceased Nobel Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo.

Howard Lam Tsz-kin, a key pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong, told reporters on Friday that he was abducted by two men on Aug. 11 while he was out shopping in Yau Ma Tei.

According to Lam, the kidnappers shoved him into a vehicle, took away his phone and forced him to breathe a substance that caused him to pass out.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself bound and stripped down to his underpants in a room in a non-urban area.

He said that his abductors interrogated him about Liu Xia and asked him whether or not he was a Christian. During the questioning, one abductor reportedly offered to "give [him] some crosses" and proceeded to press staples into cross patterns in his legs.

Lam recounted that he became unconscious again after being tortured for about 20 minutes. He said that he woke up on a beach in the area of Sai Kung in the early hours of Aug. 11.

Prior to the alleged abduction, Lam had written to F.C. Barcelona to request a signed photo of soccer star Lionel Messi on behalf of Liu, a jailed Chinese dissident who died last month after prison doctors failed to diagnose him with liver cancer.

Chinese officials reportedly grew concerned that Lam would attempt to give the photo to Liu's wife, Liu Xia, since he was not able to receive the photo until after the death of the Nobel Laureate.

Lam said that prior to the kidnapping, he was warned in a telephone call not to give the signed photo to Liu's widow.

Pro-establishment lawmakers have reportedly cast doubts on the authenticity of Lam's accounts on Friday, which renewed fears that the principle of "one country, two systems" has been eroded.

Some have raised questions why Lam did not immediately report the incident to the authorities and even cleaned his clothes when he got home. The move has been described by founding Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming as "a bit silly" because it could jeopardize the evidence that was needed for an investigation.

"There was sand and mud [in the clothes] and they were stinky," Lam explained in a Facebook Live session on Sunday, according to South China Morning Post. "My wife asked me to soak the clothes ... and so I did. I didn't think too much about it," he added.

In the same session, Lam denied that he is using the incident to build "political capital" and vowed to withdraw from any political activity in the future.

"I am under immense pressure. I am very exhausted. I do not want to be a hero, and I do not want to climb up the political ladder," he said.

"I will not actively engage in any political activities any more. I am just a coward who hopes to keep my family members safe. Goodbye and thank you," he added.