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The Hong Kong police on Thursday accused five activists based overseas of breaching China-imposed national security law and issued bounties worth USD 128,000 for information leading to each of their arrests, Voice of America (VOA) reported.
VOA is a US state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster. All of the five activists are currently living abroad after Beijing imposed a national security law on the financial hub in 2020 to quell dissent after massive, violent, pro-democracy protests, as per VOA. Hong Kong National Security Department's Chief Superintendent Li Kwai-wah said the five "have fled overseas and are suspected of offences under the national security law". He added that they "betrayed their country, betrayed Hong Kong, disregarded the interests of Hong Kong people, and continue to endanger national security even when abroad." "We have placed bounties of Hong Kong dollar 1,000,000 on each of them," Li told reporters at a press conference, in which he showed pictures of the group. Among the group was prominent activist Simon Cheng, who is currently in Britain and founder of the group Hongkongers in Britain. The other four named were Frances Hui, Joey Siu, Fok Ka-chi and Choi Ming-da, as per VOA. Their charges include incitement to secession, incitement to subversion and foreign collusion, said Li. This comes as the second time Hong Kong's police have issued big rewards to catch those accused of national security crimes. In July, eight prominent activists also overseas -- including pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui -- were named as targets for the police, which offered rewards of USD 128,000 each. The United States, Australia and Britain -- countries where some of the accused activists now reside -- had condemned the move from the Hong Kong government, with Washington calling it a "dangerous precedent", according to VOA. (ANI)
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