US, UK hit out at Hong Kong bounty offers for 5 wanted activists
The image of activist Frances Hui is displayed during a press conference to issue arrest warrants in Hong Kong, China December 14, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
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HONG KONG: Hong Kong police offered bounties on Thursday (Dec 14) for information leading to the capture of five overseas activists accused of national security crimes, drawing prompt rebukes from the United States and Britain.
The city's authorities said the five wanted individuals, all now living abroad, would be pursued "till the end" as they offered HK$1,000,000 (US$128,000) bounties for help in catching them.
Many leading pro-democracy activists were arrested, silenced, or forced into self-exile after the introduction of a security law in 2020, in a sign that freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to China in 1997 had been eroded drastically.
But both Beijing and Hong Kong governments have hailed the security law for bringing back stability to the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Arrest warrants were issued for Johnny Fok and Tony Choi, who host a YouTube channel focusing on current affairs, and pro-democracy activists Simon Cheng, Hui Wing-ting and Joey Siu.
Police refused to tell their whereabouts, but their social media profiles and earlier media reports indicated they had moved to the United States and Britain.
In July, Hong Kong warned eight other activists who now live abroad that they would be pursued for life under bounties put on them. It was the first such use under the security law, and the authorities’ announcement drew criticism from Western governments.
The US said it strongly condemned the latest move, while Britain called it "a threat to our democracy and fundamental human rights".
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron added he had instructed British officials in Hong Kong, Beijing and London to "raise this issue as a matter of urgency".
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said "advocates for democracy and freedom will continue to enjoy their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms" in the United States.
"We deplore any attempt to apply the Beijing-imposed National Security Law extra-territorially, and reiterate that Hong Kong authorities have no jurisdiction within United States borders," he added.
Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police national security department, said the authorities received about 500 pieces of information since the last round of bounties were announced. While some of the information was valuable to the police, no arrest of the eight had yet been made.
Li said the five activists newly added to their wanted list committed various offenses including colluding with foreign forces and incitement to secession.
“They all betrayed their own country and betrayed Hong Kong,” he said in the news conference. “After they fled overseas, they continued to engage in activities endangering national security.”
Li said authorities will try their best to cut the financial support to the wanted activists.
Police arrested four other people on Wednesday on suspicion of funding former pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui — two of the eight activists targeted by the police in July — through an “online subscription and crowdfunding platform".
The four were alleged to have provided financial support to others committing secession. The amount involved ranged from HK$10,000 to 120,000 (US$1280 to US$15,400).
Cheng wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he embraced the charges.
“Being hunted by China (Hong Kong)’s secret police, under a one-million-dollar bounty, is a lifelong honour,” he wrote.
Siu said on X that she would not be silenced: “I will never back down.”
Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for Greater China, said the tactic of placing bounties on activists appears to be emerging as a method of choice to silence dissent, calling for the authorities to withdraw them.
“The placement of a bounty under the guise of national security charges is an act of intimidation that transcends borders,” she said in a statement.
