More than 10 Hong Kong residents, including an activist charged under the territory’s punitive national security legislation, have been detained by China’s coast guard while trying to flee to Taiwan, according to reports.
China’s coast guard on Wednesday evening released a statement on Sina Weibo saying that on Sunday at 9am, authorities in Guangdong Province tracked down a speedboat suspected of an illegal border crossing.
The notice said that more than 10 people had been arrested, including two suspects surnamed Li (李) and Deng (鄧).
Radio Free Asia and HK01 have reported that 12 young people were on the boat, headed for Taiwan, a distance of about 600km, where many democracy activists have fled after the implementation of the new sweeping National Security Law.
Citing unnamed sources, the outlets said that activist Andy Li (李宇軒) was among those arrested.
On Thursday afternoon Hong Kong Police Commissioner Chris Tang (鄧炳強) told reporters that he had heard the reports, but the force had had no information about the arrests, and were seeking information from the mainland authorities.
Li — who has worked on raising global awareness of the situation in Hong Kong — was previously charged with breaching Hong Kong’s controversial new national security legislation and released on bail.
The Mainland Affairs Council on Thursday said that people from Hong Kong should follow existing legal channels if they wish to move to Taiwan.
Council Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said that if people from Hong Kong or Macau need to seek Taiwan’s assistance for political reasons, they should follow the existing mechanism under the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例).
According to the coordinates released by China’s coast guard, the boat was seized in the South China Sea about 78km from Hong Kong Island.
It is not clear whether the arrested individuals would be sent back to Hong Kong or face charges in China.
The Chinese coast guard said in its statement that the case was still “under investigation.”
Under Chinese law, they could face up to one year in prison for illegal border crossing.
Additional reporting by CNA
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique