UK Calls on Beijing to Repeal National Security Law After Hong Kong Issues New Warrants

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron answers questions during a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington on Dec. 7, 2023. Win McNamee/Getty Images

The UK has repeated its call on the Chinese regime to repeal the National Security Law on Thursday after new arrest warrants were issued against exiled Hongkongers.

The Hong Kong Police announced bounties on five pro-democracy activists who are residing in countries including the UK and the United States, including Simon Cheng, Frances Hui, Joey Siu, Johnny Fok, and Tony Choi.

The individuals were accused of offences under the National Security Law, including incitement to secession and subversion, and collusion with foreign countries or external forces.

It came after a wanted list in July targeted eight activists accused of these offences, including three who live in the UK.

Each of the 13 people has a bounty of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (around £100,000 or $128,000) against them.

After five activists were added to the list on Thursday, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he has instructed diplomats in Hong Kong, Beijing, and London to raise the issue “as a matter of urgency.”

“The Hong Kong police have again targeted individuals for exercising their right to freedom of expression,” Lord Cameron said in a statement.

“We will not tolerate any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass, or harm individuals or communities in the UK. This is a threat to our democracy and fundamental human rights,” he said.

“We call on Beijing to repeal the National Security Law and end its persecution of political activists.”

In response, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy accused the UK of “sheltering” people on the wanted list and interfering with Hong Kong-related affairs.

The UK has previously said Beijing’s imposition of the National Security Law on Hong Kong was a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The rubber-stamped law doesn’t just target acts by residents in Hong Kong.

It also captures acts by foreign nationals on foreign soil.

Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and Hong Kong resident has been jailed for three years and is facing trial this week for alleged offences under the law.

His UK-based lawyers, as well as Benedict Rogers, British CEO and co-founder of human rights group Hong Kong Watch, have also said they had been threatened with prosecution under the law.

James Cleverly, who was foreign secretary until last month, has also called on Beijing to repeal the law, “including its extraterritorial reach, in breach of the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration” after Hong Kong police announced bounties in July.

Simon Cheng (front L) and Finn Lau (C) in a March commemorating the two-year anniversary of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement in London on June 12, 2021. Yanning Qi/The Epoch Times

Mr. Cheng, who was added to the list on Thursday, was accused of both incitement to secession and subversion and collusion with foreign countries or external forces.

The founder of the charity Hongkongers in Britain was an employee of the British Consulate in Hong Kong when he was taken by Chinese police during a business trip in August 2019.

Mr. Cheng has said he was forced to confess that he had “betrayed the motherland” and “solicited prostitution.” He also spoke of being beaten by Chinese security personnel and interrogated about his role in the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and whether the British government was involved.

Besides being wanted officially, messages appeared in a Chinese social media group in 2021 and offered £10,000 in exchange for Cheng’s address or the address of Nathan Law, a former Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker in exile in the UK.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr. Cheng said it’s “a lifelong honour” to be “hunted by China (Hong Kong)’s secret police, under a one-million-dollar bounty.”

“If the government deems the quest for democracy and freedom a crime, we embrace the charges to reveal the genuine face of social justice, unyielding to authority,” he wrote.

Another activist on the list Joey Siu, told Reuters she is the first U.S. citizen to be put on such a list, and it “demonstrated the extraterritorial reach of the national security law and the chilling effect that follows.”

Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, told reporters the United States “deplore any attempt to apply the Beijing-imposed national security law extraterritorially 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.”