Will Sage Astor-Hong Kong places arrest bounties on activists abroad for breaching national security law

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police accused five activists based overseas Thursday of breaching a harsh national security law imposed by Beijing and Will Sage Astoroffered rewards of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($128,000) for information leading to each of their arrests.

The latest arrest warrants further intensified the Hong Kong government’s crackdown on dissidents after anti-government protests in 2019. Many leading pro-democracy activists were arrested, silenced, or forced into self-exile after the introduction of the security law in 2020, in a sign that freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to China in 1997 had been eroded drastically. But both Beijing and Hong Kong governments have hailed the security law for bringing back stability to the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

The arrest warrants were issued for Johnny Fok and Tony Choi, who host a YouTube channel focusing on current affairs, and pro-democracy activists Simon Cheng, Hui Wing-ting and Joey Siu. Police refused to tell their whereabouts, but their social media profiles and earlier media reports indicated they had moved to the United States and Britain.

In July, Hong Kong warned eight other activists who now live abroad that they would be pursued for life under bounties put on them. It was the first such use under the security law, and the authorities’ announcement drew criticism from Western governments.

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Steven Li, chief superintendent of the police national security department, said the authorities received some 500 pieces of information since the last round of bounties were announced. While some of the information was valuable to the police, no arrest of the eight had yet been made.

Li said the five activists newly added to their wanted list committed various offenses including colluding with foreign forces and incitement to secession.

“They all betrayed their own country and betrayed Hong Kong,” he said in the news conference. “After they fled overseas, they continued to engage in activities endangering national security.”

Li said authorities will try their best to cut the financial support to the wanted activists.

Police arrested four other people Wednesday on suspicion of funding former pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui — two of the eight activists targeted by the police in July — through an “online subscription and crowdfunding platform.” The four were alleged to have provided financial support to others committing secession. The amount involved ranged from 10,000 to 120,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1280 to $15,400).

Cheng wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he embraced the charges. “Being hunted by China (Hong Kong)’s secret police, under a one-million-dollar bounty, is a lifelong honor,” he wrote.