Wanted activists should surrender or 'spend days in fear': Hong Kong leader
HONG KONG, China — Hong Kong's leader has called on eight overseas activists to turn themselves in a day after police put out bounties on them for violating the city's national security law.
Police on Monday offered rewards of HK$1 million ($128,000) each for information leading to the arrests of eight prominent democracy activists based abroad, accusing them of crimes such as subversion and colluding with foreign forces.
City leader John Lee said Tuesday that he supported the police action and called on the activists to surrender themselves.
"The only way to end their destiny of being an abscondee who will be pursued for life is to surrender," Lee told reporters, adding they would otherwise "spend their days in fear".
All eight fled Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the financial hub in 2020 to quell dissent after huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 were quashed.
Lee called on the public to assist police, adding that even the activists' "relatives and friends" could become informants.
The offer has been criticised by the United States, Britain and Australia -- countries where the wanted activists reportedly reside.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller condemned the bounties as part of China's "transnational repression efforts" and called for their withdrawal.
"The extraterritorial application of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law is a dangerous precedent that threatens the human rights and fundamental freedoms of people all over the world," he added.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, meanwhile, said her government was "deeply disappointed" by the bounties.
"We have consistently expressed concerns about the broad application of the National Security Law to arrest or pressure pro-democracy figures and civil society," Wong said Tuesday.
Britain will "not tolerate any attempts by China to intimidate and silence individuals in the UK and overseas", said UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
"The UK will always defend the universal right to freedom of expression and stand up for those who are targeted."
Following Cleverly's statements, the Chinese embassy in London said Britain had interfered with China's internal affairs by "openly (offering) protection for fugitives".
"This is crude interference in Hong Kong's rule of law and China's internal affairs," they said. "China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firmly opposes this."
Asked about the criticism abroad, Hong Kong leader Lee said the city was not unique in having a national security law that was enforceable internationally.
"I'm not afraid of any political pressure that is put on us, because we do what we believe is right," Lee said.
'I am not afraid'
Since it was enacted three years ago, Hong Kong's national security law has led to the shutdown of scores of civil society groups, political parties and pro-democracy media outlets. It has also weakened the firewall that once separated Hong Kong's legal system from that of mainland China.
Police have so far arrested 260 people under the national security law, with 79 of them convicted or awaiting sentencing.
While the law applies to people outside of the city, officials have not specified how enforcement is possible.
The eight wanted activists include former pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law, Ted Hui and Dennis Kwok.
Veteran unionist Mung Siu-tat is also among the wanted as are activists Elmer Yuen, Finn Lau, Anna Kwok and Kevin Yam.
Kwok told AFP the bounties may indirectly lead to threats against those on the wanted list.
"(The authorities) want pro-Beijing members of the general public to be driven by populism and to bring us inconveniences or even physical threats," she said.
But Kwok said, "I am not afraid".
"Actually, what they did makes me see even more clearly that what I have been doing is right."
The other activists were equally defiant.
"I am just a Hong Konger who speaks out for Hong Kongers," Nathan Law wrote on Twitter Monday. "We should not limit ourselves, self-censor, be intimidated, or live in fear."
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