A young Hong Kong activist who was among the first arrested under the new National Security Law was yesterday detained close to the US consulate, police and local media said.
Tony Chung (鍾翰林), 19, was led away from a coffee shop opposite the consulate by unidentified men, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a staff reporter who witnessed the event.
Student Localism, a group advocating independence that Chung was once involved in before the security law was passed, said that he and two other former members — William Chan (陳渭賢) and Yanni Ho (何忻諾) — were arrested yesterday.
Photo: AFP
Police later confirmed the three arrests, saying they were linked to an ongoing investigation into the group allegedly “inciting secession,” one of the new national security offenses.
All three were first arrested for that offense in late July, but released on bail.
A previously unknown group calling itself “Friends of Hong Kong” first alerted media to Chung’s arrest yesterday morning by issuing a statement saying its members had been trying to arrange for him to make an asylum application via the US consulate.
“Our plan was for him to enter the consulate office today,” said a member of the group, who asked not to be named.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) was not able to independently verify the group’s claim that it was helping Chung make an asylum application.
Its statement said members witnessed four men walk into the coffee shop opposite the consulate at 8:15am and detain Chung.
Dashcam footage obtained by AFP from a vehicle parked opposite the building at that time showed three men wearing surgical masks escorting another man in a dark T-shirt who appears to have his hands behind his back.
The Friends of Hong Kong member said that the clothes worn by the escorted man matched what Chung was wearing that morning.
The US consulate did not respond to enquiries seeking information.
Student Localism said its Hong Kong chapter disbanded before the security law was enacted and that its activists are now based abroad.
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