The Conservatives are pressing the Canadian government to condemn Hong Kong authorities as they impose arrest bounties on more self-exiled democracy activists.
“Conservatives condemn the Hong Kong government’s ongoing effort to intimidate individuals living in democracies standing up for human rights and democracy, including those from Canada,” Conservative MP Michael Chong wrote in an X post on Dec. 16.
“We encourage the Trudeau government to join the international community in condemning this act of transnational repression.”
On Dec. 14, the Hong Kong Police’s National Security Department issued arrest warrants for five individuals, saying that they have allegedly violated the city’s National Security Law and have fled overseas and that they have been placed on the wanted list.
The group comprises three men—Cheng Man-kit, Fok Ka-chi, and Choi Ming-da—and two women—Joey Sui and Hui Wing-ting. The five are alleged to have continued to commit the offences of incitement to secession, incitement to subversion, and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.
A Dec. 14 document released by the Hong Kong authorities said Ms. Siu and Ms. Hui, both 24, are accused of “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements” for using various platforms to advocate for foreign countries to impose sanctions on Beijing and Hong Kong officials.
Related Stories
Ms. Siu is an American citizen, and Ms. Hui, whose English name is Francis Hui, is the first Hong Kong pro-democracy activist to be granted political asylum in the United States, in September 2021.
The arrest warrant said the offences committed by the two began in October 2020. This followed the anti-extradition movement, a series of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in June 2019. The massive movement opposed a proposed bill aimed at facilitating the extradition of individuals from Hong Kong to the mainland. The bill, proposed in February 2019, sparked widespread concerns about the Chinese communist regime’s increasing influence over Hong Kong and suppression of critics. It was formally withdrawn in October 2019.
The 2019 movement was followed by Beijing implementing the National Security Law in Hong Kong on June 30, 2020. This law targeted acts of secession, subversion of state power, and collusion with foreign forces. Since the its enactment, authorities have closed down outspoken media outlets and arrested some 260 pro-democracy figures.
‘Violating an International Treaty’
All five accused individuals named in the Dec. 14 arrest warrant are currently residing outside Chinese territories, with locations that include the United States and the United Kingdom. The Hong Kong police are offering a reward of HK$1 million (approximately C$171,000) for information on each.This recent announcement of bounties follows a prior move by the Hong Kong police in July, in which they issued arrest warrants along with bounties for eight pro-democracy activists in exile. Among them is Dennis Kwok, a former Hong Kong politician born in Canada.
Mr. Chong, the official Opposition’s foreign affairs critic, pointed out that by offering “bounties” on democracy activists, Hong Kong authorities are “undermining the rule of law and violating an international treaty, the Sino-British Joint Declaration.” Signed in 1984 between the United Kingdom and China, the treaty sets out the terms for the return of Hong Kong, a British colony at the time, to Chinese control in 1997.
The agreement was designed to safeguard Hong Kong’s democratic governance and freedoms for a 50-year period following the return to China, extending until 2047. However, in 2017, China’s Foreign Ministry said the joint declaration was a historical document that no longer had any practical significance.
In response to the arrest warrant issued by the Hong Kong police, the organization Hongkongers in Britain (HKB) released a statement on the social media platform X noting that the Hong Kong National Security Law has garnered international criticism, including concerns raised by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
“The politically motivated criminal accusations by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Hong Kong’s law enforcement have lost credibility internationally,” the statement reads. “HKB opposes any attempts by the CCP and the Hong Kong authorities to interfere with and stigmatise the lawful activities of the Hongkonger diaspora.”
Cheng Man-kit, 33, founder and board chair of the HKB, is one of the five individuals named in the arrest warrant. Mr. Cheng, whose English name is Simon Cheng, is Hong Kong-born and previously served in the British Consulate in Hong Kong, when he was detained in China for 15 days in 2019 while on a business trip there.
The Hong Kong police has accused him of offences such as “incitement to secession” and “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”, pointing to his advocacy for Hong Kong ”independence” through various social media platforms.
Mr. Fok, 42, and Mr. Choi, 46, are both accused of “incitement to secession” and “incitement to subversion” for operating “Tuesdayroad,” a YouTube channel boasting over 400,000 subscribers. The channel openly criticizes the CCP and advocates for freedom of speech and democracy in Hong Kong.
