HK police issue arrest warrants for eight overseas-based activists

Hong Kong police on Monday issued arrest warrants for eight activists, accusing them of serious national security offences such as incitement to secession and foreign collusion. It even offered rewards of HK$1 million ($127,656) each for information leading to any arrest.

Informing a press conference, police identified the accused as unionist Mung Siu-tat, online commentator Yuan Gong-yi, former lawmakers Dennis Kwok and Ted Hui, lawyer and legal scholar Kevin Yam, and activists Nathan Law, Anna Kwok and Finn Lau.

Issuing wanted notices, the police said financial assets of the accused based overseas would be frozen where possible, warning the public not to offer them support or face the risk of violating the law. The activists are based in various places including Australia, Britain and the US.

Activists Charged Under A 2020 National Security Law

“They have encouraged sanctions … to destroy Hong Kong,” said Steve Li, an officer with the police’s national security department. The activists have been charged under a national security law Beijing imposed on the former British colony three years back.

The law came into force after the financial hub was impacted by heavy anti-China demonstrations the year before. Some countries, however, have raised concerns over the 2020 law being used to suppress the city’s pro-democracy movement.

Some even say the law has put at risk certain rights guaranteed under a “one country, two systems” formula, agreed when the special administrative region returned to Chinese rule in 1997. But authorities have a different direction to follow.

Authorities in both China and Hong Kong say the national security law has restored the stability necessary to preserve the city’s economic success. Meanwhile, Yam – who was contacted by the Reuters News Agency – said he would continue to speak out against the crackdown.

Chances Of Prosecution Were Slim

Calling it his duty, Yam said he would continue to criticise what he described as “tyranny”. He has been accused by police of meeting foreign officials to instigate sanctions against Hong Kong officials, prosecutors and judges.

Addressing the press conference, police said 260 people had been detained under the 2020 law, with 79 of them convicted of crimes including terrorism. Meanwhile, the other seven activists have yet to provide any comment to the news agency.

If the defendants remained overseas, the chances of prosecution were slim, said Li – stressing the fact that if the activists don’t return, the police won’t be able to arrest them. “But we won’t stop wanting them,” he added.

In a statement, British-based Hong Kong Watch, a rights group, said Australia, Britain and the US should issue statements guaranteeing the safety of the eight activists accused of serious national security offences and the wider Hong Kong community living abroad.