Hong Kong Police Arrest Activist Agnes Chow Under National Security Law

Agnes Chow speaks to reporters after appearing in court in Hong Kong, on July 6, 2020. Song Bilung/The Epoch Times

Hong Kong Police arrested another high-profile democracy activist, Agnes Chow, on Monday night at her residence. Police arrested Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong activist and media mogul, and 6 others, under National Security Law charges on the same day.

Hong Kong media Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), reported that the arrests were made under National Security Law charges. Chow confirmed her arrest was made under National Security Charges of “inciting secession” in an update on Facebook. It is unclear exactly what warranted the charge.

Yesterday, on her official Facebook page, the prominent activist reported strange, unidentified men standing outside her residence from morning till night. The post details multiple groups of 3-4 men taking shifts to patrol outside her home.

She detailed the peculiarity of the situation since she lives in a housing estate in a rural area.

“It’s shocking, but I can only continue to do what I believe in,” Chow wrote in her Facebook post.

Chow is a longtime Hong Kong activist. Her involvement in advocating for Hong Kong’s democracy started in 2012 when she joined Scholarism, a group of Hong Kong students advocating for education and youth reform. It was founded in an attempt to prevent Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence in Hong Kong’s educational system.

She is also a former member of Demosistō, a pro-democracy political party. Demosistō disbanded on the eve of the passing of the National Security Law.

The CCP enacted a sweeping National Security Law on July 1. It punishes secession, subversion of state power, terrorism, and colluding with foreign countries, with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Earlier on Monday, media tycoon and pro-democracy activist, Jimmy Lai, was also arrested under charges of the National Security Law. Details of what prompted the charge remain unrevealed, despite a mass police raid of his media company, Apple Daily.

Apple Daily is one of the few Hong Kong media organizations that openly critiques the CCP and Hong Kong’s government.

A previous version of this article misstated when Agnes Chow joined Scholarism. The Epoch Times regrets the error.