Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
Hong Kong National Police have issued bounties on eight pro-democracy activists in exile, including former MP Nathan Law.
Hong Kong CNN –
Hong Kong police on Monday put bounties on eight prominent pro-democracy activists in self-exile abroad, each offering a HK$1 million (US$127,603) reward for information leading to their arrest.
The activists, including former MPs Nathan Law, Dennis Kwok and Ted Hui, have been accused of national security abuses ranging from collusion with foreign forces to subversion of state power.
After leaving Hong Kong in recent years, many of the activists have continued to speak out against Beijing’s crackdown on their hometown’s freedoms and autonomy.
The group, made up of seven men and one woman, is currently based in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia – countries that have suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong over concerns over the controversial national security law.
The far-reaching law was imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in 2020 after the semi-autonomous city was rocked by massive pro-democracy protests the previous year. It criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers and carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Critics say the law has been used to crush the city’s opposition movement, overhaul its electoral system, silence its outspoken media and cripple its once-vibrant civil society. Many of Hong Kong’s prominent pro-democracy figures have either been imprisoned or fled into self-imposed exile.
The Hong Kong government has repeatedly denied that the national security law stifles freedoms. Instead, she insists the law ended the chaos and restored stability to the city.
On Monday, police said at a news conference that 260 people had been arrested under the national security law, 79 of whom had been convicted of crimes including subversion and terrorism.
Chief Commissioner Steve Li of the Police National Security Division told reporters that the police had received arrest warrants for the eight activists from the court.
“We are absolutely not putting on a show and we are not spreading terror. We enforce the law,” he said.
Kevin Yam, a lawyer who is among the eight targets, said he had been “inundated with congratulations” since Monday’s police press briefing for “having the honor of being on the list.”
“I don’t feel happy about it, but I am saddened by Hong Kong that people are seeing things this way now because it is a sign of how low Hong Kong has fallen in the eyes of many,” he told CNN from Australia.
Law, who is now based in the UK, said in a statement that while the news was stressful and meant he had to be more careful when travelling, it came as no surprise. He criticized the use of the national security law to “suppress dissenting voices” and reiterated his hope that Hong Kong would one day achieve full democracy.
“I’m just a Hong Konger standing up for Hong Kongers — that’s all,” he said, urging the public not to cooperate with the bounty bid. “We should not silence or limit ourselves, we should not allow ourselves to be politically intimidated or blackmailed, or live in fear.”