BEIJING — China on Friday defended controversial bounties supplied for the seize of Hong Kong dissidents who’ve fled overseas which have been closely criticized by overseas governments and human rights teams.
Rewards of 1 million Hong Kong {dollars} ($128,000) have been supplied for data resulting in the seize of 13 opposition figures accused of violating the semi-autonomous Chinese metropolis’s sweeping National Security Law.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated China rejected the skin criticism, saying the arrest orders had been “necessary and justified and … in line with international law and practice.”
Without straight mentioning the bounties, Mao stated different international locations even have extraterritorial points to their legal guidelines on nationwide safety, including that overseas governments’ assist for these on the listing was merely cowl for his or her goal of destabilizing Hong Kong, an Asian monetary middle that was roiled by 2019 anti-government protests.
“We strongly oppose and deplore the individual countries slandering Hong Kong’s national security law and interfering in the judicial system,” Mao instructed reporters at a each day briefing.
A day earlier, Hong Kong police accused one other 5 overseas-based activists of violating the National Security Law imposed by Beijing, and supplied rewards for his or her arrests.
Mao stated the 5 “endangered national security by destabilizing Hong Kong under the guise of democracy and human rights.”
One of the 5, Joey Siu, is a United States citizen who was born in North Carolina and moved to Hong Kong as a toddler.
“This morning I, a U.S. citizen, woke up to the news that an arrest warrant & a HKD $1 million bounty have been placed on my head by the Hong Kong govt. for exercising my freedoms in my own country,” Siu posted on the social media web site X, previously referred to as Twitter.
“More to say later but for now: I will never be silenced, I will never back down,” Siu wrote. The police discover listed her alleged crimes as “colluding with a foreign nation or overseas forces to endanger national security.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in a press release dated Friday that Hong Kong authorities displayed their “disregard for international norms and human rights in Hong Kong.”
“We strongly oppose any efforts to intimidate and silence individuals who choose to make the United States their home and will not waver in standing up for those who are targeted simply for exercising their human rights,” he stated.
The Hong Kong authorities in response stated that the measures taken had been “in line with the international practice,” and stated no nation ought to “harbour criminals nor exonerate these people with different excuses.”
The bounties additional intensify the Hong Kong authorities’s crackdown on dissidents following the 2019 demonstration that grew more and more violent and had been harshly suppressed by police.
Many main pro-democracy activists had been arrested, silenced or compelled into self-exile after the introduction of the safety legislation in 2020, in a drastic erosion of the freedoms promised to the previous British colony when it returned to China in 1997. Later authorized modifications successfully demolished any political opposition, with all seats on consultant our bodies both appointed by the federal government or reserved for these vetted and licensed as “patriots.”
The newest arrest warrants had been issued for Johnny Fok and Tony Choi, who host a YouTube channel specializing in present affairs, and pro-democracy activists Simon Cheng, Hui Wing-ting and Joey Siu. Those on the wished listing are believed to be dwelling in self-exile primarily in Britain, the U.S. and Australia.
In July, Hong Kong warned eight different activists who now dwell overseas that they’d be pursued for all times with bounties placed on them. It was the primary such use of bounties below the safety legislation, and the authorities’ announcement drew criticism from Western governments.
Police have arrested individuals on suspicion of offering funds for a few of those that have fled overseas.
Both the U.S. and British governments have denounced the arrest warrants and bounties as flying within the face of human rights and democratic norms.
Mao responded Friday, saying, “The U.S. and U.K.’s support to these anti-China elements exposed their sinister intention of messing up Hong Kong.”
“China’s determination to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests is unwavering. The countries concerned should respect China’s sovereignty and the rule of law in Hong Kong and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs,” Mao stated.
Amnesty International described the bounties as “absurd” and “designed to sow fear worldwide.”
“This is further confirmation that the Hong Kong authorities’ systematic dismantling of human rights has officially gone global. The brazen tactic of placing ‘Wild West’-style bounties on activists’ heads seems to be emerging as a method of choice to silence dissent,” Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the area, stated Thursday in an emailed assertion.
Meanwhile, pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow left Hong Kong for Canada earlier in December and doesn’t plan to return to satisfy her bail circumstances.
Chow is one in every of Hong Kong’s most distinguished younger activists and was arrested in 2020 below the National Security Law. While she has not been charged and was launched on bail, police confiscated her passport earlier than returning it to her this yr below sure circumstances, together with a go to to mainland China with authorities.
