Talk:Hok-Seng Lau/@comment-1.41.170.199-20181215082324/@comment-103.252.200.27-20181226121503

Nichols decided to frame Lau, and Lau didn't speak English. So Nichols arranged for Lau to be interrogated privately by himself and the Captain, and possibly the other senior officers, with (my guess) Li Hong as the translator. I think they would take Hong at his word, especially if Lau didn't appear to resist. Lau would not know that something was wrong until they tied him up and led him out for execution. And would he know that he was going to be executed? Perhaps he was drugged, or sedated for "humane" reasons, after the interrogation. Recall that Evans had a supply of laudanum (a sedative) on board; it wouldn't have been hard for Nichols or his co-conspirators to get their hands on some, and slip it to him. Drugged and hooded, he would not have been in any condition to struggle or resist.