China’s national security authorities in Hong Kong and the territory’s police launched their first publicly known joint operation, raiding the homes of six people over allegations that they “colluded with foreign forces to endanger national security.”
A statement by police yesterday did not disclose the identity of the six people suspected of breaking the 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law between November 2020 and June last year.
Beyond their homes, officers searched the office of an organization and seized items including bank documents and devices, the statement said.
Photo: Lo Pei-te, Taipei Times
The six people were ordered to surrender their travel documents, it said.
Beijing’s national security arm in Hong Kong asked for assistance from the territory's national security police, including to arrange interviews with the suspects, police said.
Local police did not elaborate on details of the accusations and which organization was involved, saying the investigation was ongoing.
A national security hotline run by the Hong Kong police has received more than 920,000 reports over the past four years, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang (鄧炳強) said at a ceremony yesterday to mark five years since the law was enacted, the English-language Hong Kong Free Press reported.
Police have arrested 326 people over offences related to national security since the national security law took effect, with 165 convicted, Tang said.
Since the 2020 law took effect, many leading rights advocates have been prosecuted or jailed for national security offenses. Last week, Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), who has convicted and sentenced in a subversion case last year, was charged for the second time under the law.
He faces up to life in prison over the fresh charge of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security.
The Beijing and Hong Kong governments say that the law was necessary to return stability to the territory following massive anti-government protests in 2019.
In May, Hong Kong enacted subsidiary legislation for a separate, homegrown national security law, which was passed last year.
The subsidiary legislation requires public servants, if requested, to provide all necessary and reasonable assistance to Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong.
Local public servants must offer such help if the office needs to ascertain whether a case involves special circumstances that could allow it to have jurisdiction over the case.
Over the past week, the Hong Kong authorities have stepped up their national security work as the fifth anniversary of the enactment of the Beijing-imposed law neared, including targeting a mobile game that they said advocated armed revolution and promoted secessionist agendas.
In related news, 200 people last night attended a march in Taipei that marked the sixth anniversary of the 2019 anti-extradition bill movement, Chinese-language online news platform The Chaser reported.
The march was organized by the Hong Kong Outlanders, Amnesty International Taiwan and other groups to raise awareness about Beijing’s activities in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Outlanders secretary-general Sky Fung (馮詔天) told the Central News Agency that he hopes a rally like this would remind Taiwanese, who live in a free and democratic country, of what happened in Hong Kong.
He called on Taiwanese to address Chinese threats, as China’s ambition would not cease.
“It is obvious that Taiwan is China’s next target,” he added.
Cheng Sze Lut (鄭司律), former deputy convenor of the now-disbanded Civil Human Rights Front, said he hopes Hong Kongers around the globe could resist the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Cheng told The Chaser that he treasures every opportunity to take part in a rally in Taiwan, as the country is on the front line facing the CCP’s threat.
Alan Lau (劉健倫), director of the documentary Rather Be Ashes Than Dust (寧化飛灰), said it is a precious opportunity that Hong Kongers in Taiwan enjoy freedom of assembly that they used to have in Hong Kong.
Choi Chi-ho (蔡智豪), one of the first Hong Kongers in exile to receive a Taiwanese ID card, said he wants to share the true history of Hong Kong with Taiwanese, as he now has a say here and does not have to worry about his identity.
Taiwanese must not trust the CCP’s promises, said Xiao Shi (小詩), another naturalized Taiwanese who is a coleader in the recall campaign against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭), The Chaser reported.
Additional reporting by CNA and Fion Khan
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