Activist Joey Siu said this was the first time an American citizen had been placed under such a warrant.
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has condemned Hong Kong authorities for placing bounties for information leading to the arrest of five pro-democracy activists, including an American.
“CCP-controlled Hong Kong authorities’ effort through intimidation and harassment to persecute U.S. citizens and residents engaging in peaceful political activism in the United States is unacceptable,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), the panel’s chairman, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, said in a
statement on Dec. 14.
Hong Kong authorities on Dec. 14 offered bounties of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (about $128,000) for the capture of each of the activists, citing their violation of the CCP-imposed national security law.
The House committee called on Congress “to take urgent action to address the CCP’s transnational repression, and the Administration must immediately sanction the CCP and Hong Kong officials responsible for the imposition of these bounties.”
Joey Siu, an activist based in Washington and a U.S. citizen, told Reuters that it’s the first time an American citizen had been placed under such a warrant.
It “demonstrates the extraterritorial reach of the national security law and the chilling effect that follows,” she said.
“I think democratic countries, especially the U.S., need to take a lead on addressing such transnational repression harassment tactics against activists like me,” Ms. Siu said.
The State Department also strongly condemns the Hong Kong authorities’ actions and its “bounty list” targeting pro-democracy activists overseas.
“That shows blatant disregard for international norms, for democracy and human rights,” spokesman Matthew Miller said at a press briefing on Dec. 14.
“We deplore any attempt to apply the Beijing-imposed national security law extra-territorially and reiterate that Hong Kong authorities have no jurisdiction within United States’ borders, where the advocates for democracy and freedom will continue to enjoy their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and rights.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he has instructed officials in Hong Kong, Beijing, and London to raise the issue as a matter of urgency with Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.
In July, the five dissidents were added to a list of eight overseas activists deemed to be fugitives by authorities.
“All of them who have already fled overseas have continued to commit offenses under the national security law that seriously endangered national security,” Steve Li, an officer with the Hong Kong police’s national security department, told reporters.
Erosion of Freedom
Since the national security law was enacted in Hong Kong in 2020, the city has seen a significant erosion of the freedoms promised by the Chinese communist regime when the former British territory was handed over in 1997. Authorities have suppressed
protests, imprisoned pro-democracy
activists, and banned
gatherings, including the annual Tiananmen Square massacre vigil.
The law has also
eroded religious freedom in the city, which UK-based group Hong Kong Watch pointed out in its report last month. It noted that self-censorship is now common in religious activities and schools affiliated with religious groups and that CCP agents have infiltrated church leadership in the city.
To support Hong Kong protesters and activists, Congress passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy
Act and the Hong Kong Autonomy
Act, which were subsequently signed into law by President Donald Trump. The former law requires the secretary of state to certify annually whether Hong Kong is “sufficiently autonomous” to justify its special economic status granted under the United States–Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992.
Last month, Mr. Gallagher and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
criticized the State Department for inviting CCP-backed Hong Kong leader John Lee to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.
Mr. Lee was sanctioned in 2020 by the Treasury Department because of his role in implementing the draconian national law security law when he was Hong Kong’s security secretary. The Treasury
stated that he was engaged in “coercing, arresting, detaining, or imprisoning individuals under the authority of the national security law.”
Frank Fang and Reuters contributed to this report.
