Hong Kong police have arrested five people for sedition, as the territory prepares to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chinese rule and a potential visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), whose arrival was in doubt after top Hong Kong officials tested positive for COVID-19.
Two men, aged 28 and 30, were on Wednesday arrested and charged with “doing an act or acts with seditious intention,” which carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
They were suspected of posting messages on social media that “promote feelings of ill will and enmity between different classes of the population of Hong Kong, and incite the use of violence,” police said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
Police on Wednesday also announced three new arrests in relation to a previous case involving a martial arts coach accused of running an armed separatist movement.
Officers arrested three men aged 39 to 50 for sedition and seized “a large number of offensive weapons,” including machetes, knives and swords from their residences.
In March, authorities charged two people after they allegedly set up a martial arts training hall to organize an “armed force for Hong Kong independence.”
Hong Kong authorities are on high alert as the territory prepares for Friday next week, when a new government is to be sworn in and it marks 25 years of its handover to China.
While past Chinese leaders tended to visit Hong Kong on key anniversaries, a rumored visit by Xi next week has been complicated by the country’s zero-tolerance policy for COVID-19 infection risks.
Two senior members of incoming Hong Kong chief executive John Lee’s (李家超) Cabinet — including his No. 2 — have tested positive for the virus, the government revealed in a statement on Thursday.
Xi last visited Hong Kong five years ago when Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) took office.
If Xi does not show up next week, it might show that Hong Kong failed to do a good enough job to manage its COVID-19 situation, City University of Hong Kong assistant professor of Chinese politics Liu Dongshu (劉冬舒) said.
Local officials attending the celebrations are expected to enter a week-long “closed-loop” arrangement that would confine them to their homes and workplace, without use of public transport, culminating in one night of hotel quarantine, the South China Morning Post previously reported, citing sources.
“If more officials get infected, it’s probably more embarrassing and awkward than anything,” Liu said. “After all, amid all the restrictions and measures in Hong Kong, the people who eventually are infected are them. In the long term, if society uses these incidents to make fun of politicians, their authority will be undermined.”
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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