Hong Kong offers rewards for the arrest of six activists abroad

Hong Kong police have offered a HK$1 million (£103,000; $129,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of six pro-democracy activists living in Britain and Canada.

Among them is Tony Chung, a former pro-independence group leader who fled to Great Britain last year.

The group, which includes a former district councillor, actor and YouTuber, has been lobbying for more democracy in the territory. All were accused of violating the city’s national security law.

Human Rights Watch said the warrants were a “cowardly act of intimidation aimed at silencing the people of Hong Kong” and called on the British and Canadian governments to fight back.

Also on the wanted list are former district councilor Carmen Lau and activist Chloe Cheng. Both are based in the UK and lobby for two non-governmental organizations calling for greater democracy in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants for political commentator and pollster Chung Kim Wah, who left Hong Kong for the UK in 2022, as well as two people living in Canada: former actor Joseph Tay, who co-founded the non-governmental organization HongKonger Station. , and Youtuber Victor Ho.

Mr. Ho was charged with subversion, while the other six were charged with inciting secession and conspiring with a foreign country or foreign power.

According to Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK, the arrest warrants were announced by the city’s top police chiefs on Tuesday, who accused some of the wanted activists of repeatedly asking foreign countries to impose sanctions and other measures against China and Hong Kong.

Mr Chung was first convicted in 2021 of calling for Hong Kong secession and was released last June.

On Tuesday, he wrote on Instagram that he was “honored to be the first Hong Konger to be charged twice under the National Security Act”.

Mr Chung said the news did not come as a surprise to him as he breached a supervision order after his release from prison by fleeing to the UK last year.

“I knew this day would come. From the moment I decided to leave Hong Kong, I was fully aware that I would not be able to return for a long time,” he wrote.

Ms. Lau posted on X that the warrant would not stop her advocacy work. She called on the UK, US and EU governments to impose sanctions against “Hong Kong human rights abusers”.

She also asked Britain’s Labor government to “seriously review its strategies for dealing with transnational repression against Hong Kongers” and consider blocking the expansion of the Chinese embassy in Tower Hill.

Tower Hamlets councilors earlier this month unanimously voted to reject plans to build a new Chinese embassy. However, the verdict is advisory and non-binding, and it will be up to Deputy Premier and Communities Secretary Angela Rayner to decide whether to grant permission.

This is the third round of arrest warrants and rewards issued since the introduction of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law.

The first two rounds were published in July and December last year and targeted former lawmaker Nathan Lowe, who told the BBC last year that his life became more dangerous after the announcement of the award – and Simon Cheung, former British consular officer detained in 2019 in a high-profile case. Both are now in the UK.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Tuesday backed the move, saying the Chinese government supports Hong Kong in “fulfilling its responsibilities in accordance with the law.”

She added that Hong Kong is a “law-ruled society and no one has extra-judicial privileges”.

Hong Kong’s national security law has sparked controversy introduced in 2020 in response to the 2019 anti-government protests that rocked the city for months.

Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong say the law is needed to maintain stability and deny it has weakened autonomy, but critics say it has curtailed the city’s autonomy and made a wider range of dissent illegal.