Hong Kong: passports of six pro-democracy activists who took refuge in the United Kingdom canceled

The Hong Kong government today announced the cancellation of the passports of six pro-democracy activists “fugitives” to the United Kingdom, where they have taken refuge to escape China’s crackdown on dissent, calling them “wanted criminals without faith or law “.

To justify the cancellation of the passports of Nathan Law, one of the leading figures of the democracy movement and former candidate elected to the Legislative Council (the city’s Parliament), trade unionist Mung Siu-tat and activists Simon Cheng, Finn Lau, Fok Ka-chi and Choi Ming-da, the administration of the Chinese Special Administrative Region invoked the Second National Security Law, which came into force last March in accordance with Article 23 of the Basic Law (the Constitution of Hong Kong).

“They continue to openly engage in activities that threaten national security,” read a statement released by the government. “We have therefore adopted a series of measures to deal them a severe blow,” continues the note, which includes in particular the “cancellation” of passports issued by Hong Kong. All beneficiaries of this measure are accused of “collusion with a foreign power” and “incitement to secession and subversion”, crimes which, according to the national security law, are punishable by penalties of up to life imprisonment.

On Facebook, Nathan Law called this measure “unnecessary” given that the United Kingdom granted him political asylum in 2021. “As for the other measures taken (under the National Security Act, editor’s note), if they raise concerns among friends of Hong Kong, Kong, please put your personal safety first,” Law said.

“It’s ridiculous to cancel something that never existed,” Finn Lau commented on before 1997, the year of the reunification of the former British colony with China. “Recourse to Article 23 (of the Basic Law) is an explicit act of transnational repression and another violation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” he added, referring to the signed agreement in 1984 by London and Beijing which guarantees Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy “at least until 2047”.

Last December, the local executive placed a reward of one million Hong Kong dollars (a little over 119 thousand euros) on the heads of 13 democracy activists who had taken refuge abroad, accusing them of having violated China’s national security law, sparking protests from local authorities. the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom where some of these people have found refuge. “This is a threat to our democracy and our fundamental human rights,” British Foreign Minister David Cameron said at the time.

The head of government of the city, John Lee, sanctioned by the United States for the role he played as commander of the security forces in the repression of the 2019 demonstrations, had however reaffirmed that the wanted activists would be “persecuted for life”, inviting them to turn themselves in to Chinese authorities, who specified that anyone providing funds, renting properties or entering into business with these people would be subject to a sentence of up to seven years in prison .

Today’s announcement comes on the fifth anniversary of the pro-democracy movement protests that took to the streets of Hong Kong in 2019. To suppress dissent and protests, Beijing in June 2020 imposed a first national security law to apply retroactively. , he allowed activists to be prosecuted around the world and sent to prisons on the continent.

According to the Hong Kong Security Bureau, at least 249 people have been arrested in the city under the national security law since 2020. At least 10,279 were arrested during the 2019 protests, of which 2,955 were arrested. charged with various crimes, including “unlawful assembly,” “sedition,” “obstruction of law enforcement,” and “assault.”