Hong Kong today imposed bounties of HK$1 million (US$128,728) on six more pro-democracy campaigners deemed to have violated national security laws, and revoked the passports of seven others, in a continuing security squeeze in the financial hub.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Chris Tang (鄧炳強) said the six – all based overseas in countries including the UK and the US – had engaged in the alleged crimes of incitement to secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces.
The six included UK-based commentator Chung Kim-wah (鍾劍華), former head of a pro-independence group Tony Chung (鍾翰林) and Carmen Lau (劉珈汶), a member of the Hong Kong Democracy Council and Chloe Cheung from the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.
Photo: EPA
"(I) will not back down only because of an arrest warrant and a bounty. And I hope to have every one of you standing with me in this fight for Hong Kong," wrote Lau on X."And I hope to have every one of you standing with me in this fight for Hong Kong."
On Instagram, Cheung, 19, wrote, "Fear cannot restrain me, and suppression cannot silence me."
The move to add more names to Hong Kong's wanted list comes as the city strives to revive its economic growth and international reputation after a years-long crackdown on dissent that has drawn global criticism.
China and Hong Kong authorities have defended the clampdown under sweeping national security laws, saying stability has been restored after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Tang said the six pro-democracy campaigners had engaged in activities including giving speeches, social media posts and lobbying for Hong Kong officials and judges to be sanctioned by foreign governments, thus endangering national security.
China's office for safeguarding national security in Hong Kong said in a statement it supported the actions as these individuals had engaged in "anti-China" and destabilizing acts.
Others were deemed to have advocated for Hong Kong's independence from China. Hong Kong, a former British colony for over 150 years, returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
"Instead of celebrating X'mas, it (Hong Kong) is taking a major step to escalate its transnational repression campaign," wrote Anna Kwok (郭鳳儀), a US-based Hong Kong activist.
There are now a total of 19 opposition figures on the city's wanted list including lawyers Kevin Yam (任建峰) and Dennis Kwok (郭榮鏗), former lawmaker Ted Hui (許智峯) and activists Nathan Law (羅冠聰) and Joey Siu (邵嵐).
Hui had HK$800,000 of his money confiscated from an unspecified bank in the city, Tang said. Notices bearing black and white photographs of the "fugitives" have been posted in public including at Hong Kong's international airport.
Seven "absconders", including Hui, who are now based overseas, also had their passports revoked under a fresh set of national security laws known as Article 23, enacted this year.
"They will become someone without an identity," Tang told reporters.
DISASTER: The Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded a magnitude 5.7 and tremors reached as far as Kolkata, India, more than 300km away from the epicenter A powerful earthquake struck Bangladesh yesterday outside the crowded capital, Dhaka, killing at least five people and injuring about a hundred, the government said. The magnitude 5.5 quake struck at 10:38am near Narsingdi, Bangladesh, about 33km from Dhaka, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The earthquake sparked fear and chaos with many in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people at home on their day off. AFP reporters in Dhaka said they saw people weeping in the streets while others appeared shocked. Bangladesh Interim Leader Muhammad Yunus expressed his “deep shock and sorrow over the news of casualties in various districts.” At least five people,
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
LEFT AND RIGHT: Battling anti-incumbent, anticommunist sentiment, Jeanette Jara had a precarious lead over far-right Jose Antonio Kast as they look to the Dec. 14 run Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast are to go head-to-head in Chile’s presidential runoff after topping Sunday’s first round of voting in an election dominated by fears of violent crime. With 99 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running on behalf of an eight-party coalition, won 26.85 percent, compared with 23.93 percent for Kast, the Servel electoral service said. The election was dominated by deep concern over a surge in murders, kidnappings and extortion widely blamed on foreign crime gangs. Kast, 59, has vowed to build walls, fences and trenches along Chile’s border with Bolivia to
DEATH SENTENCE: The ousted leader said she was willing to attend a fresh trial outside Bangladesh where the ruling would not be a ‘foregone conclusion’ Bangladesh’s fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called the guilty verdict and death sentence in her crimes against humanity trial “biased and politically motivated.” Hasina, 78, defied court orders that she return from India to attend her trial about whether she ordered a deadly crackdown against the student-led uprising that ousted her. She was found guilty and sentenced to death earlier yesterday. “The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate,” Hasina said in a statement issued from hiding in India. “They are biased and politically motivated,” she
RSS