Hong Kong police announced bounties yesterday for information leading to the arrest of 19 overseas activists, accusing them of national security crimes.
Political dissent in Hong Kong has been quashed since Beijing imposed a sweeping National Security Law in 2020 after huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. Many opposition figures have fled abroad, while others have been arrested and sentenced to years in jail.
Police said the 19 activists were involved in what they called a “subversive organization,” Hong Kong Parliament, a pro-democracy non-governmental organization established in Canada.
Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong Parliament on July 1 said on social media that it was holding an unofficial poll online to form a “legislature,” aimed at “opposing one-party dictatorship and tyranny, and pursuing Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.”
Police accused the group of seeking to “unlawfully overthrow and undermine the fundamental system” of the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities.
The investigation into the organization is ongoing, the police said, warning that they “will offer bounties to hunt down more suspects in the case if necessary.”
They also called on the accused to “return to Hong Kong and turn themselves in, rather than make further mistakes.”
A reward of HK$200,000 (US$25,480) each was offered for 15 of the activists, while the four others were already wanted for HK$1 million, the statement said.
The bounties are seen as largely symbolic, given that they affect people living abroad in nations unlikely to extradite political activists to Hong Kong or China.
This is the fourth time Hong Kong’s authorities have offered rewards for help capturing those who have allegedly contravened its national security laws.
According to the Hong Kong police’s Web site, as of yesterday, there are 34 people wanted for national security offenses, including secession, subversion or foreign collusion.
Previous rounds of bounties were met with intense criticism from Western countries, with Hong Kong and China in turn railing against foreign “interference.”
Hong Kong has also previously canceled the passports of other pro-democracy activists on its wanted list, under its second homegrown National Security Law enacted last year. As of July 1, authorities had arrested 333 people for alleged national security crimes, with 165 convicted in Hong Kong.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong police arrested four people, including a 15-year-old, who were allegedly part of a group in Taiwan that called for the overthrow of the Chinese Communist Party.
This week police said they had arrested an 18-year-old for writing “seditious words” on a toilet wall in a commercial building.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
TALKS CONTINUE: Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan explaining the new US tariffs and the government’s plans for supporting affected industries. US President Donald Trump on July 31 announced a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the US starting on Thursday last week, and the Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that it