Hong Kong police have offered financial rewards for information leading to the arrests of six pro-democracy activists living in the UK and Canada, with a bounty of HK$1m (£103,000) on each of them — sparking renewed concerns about transnational repression under Beijing’s draconian National Security Law.
Among the targets is Tony Chung, who was jailed in 2021 for arguing that Hong Kong should pursue independence, and who fled to Britain in 2023. He posted on Instagram that it was “an honour to become the first Hongkonger to be charged twice under the National Security Law [NSL]” (a law imposed in 2020 after widespread anti-government protests).
The law, ostensibly intended to restore order after the unrest, effectively dismantled Hong Kong’s autonomy. Troublingly, it criminalises acts deemed as secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces, while granting Chinese and Hong Kong authorities extraterritorial jurisdiction, enabling them to pursue individuals globally for actions committed outside Hong Kong. This sweeping provision is the foundation of the recent arrest warrants and bounties.
Also on the wanted list are former district councillor Carmen Lau and 19-year-old Chloe Cheung, who reside in the UK and lobby on behalf of NGOs advocating for democracy in Hong Kong. Political commentator and pollster Chung Kim-wah is the other UK-based target. The two Canadian-based activists are YouTuber Victor Ho and Joseph Tay, co-founder of Toronto’s ‘HongKonger Station’, which provides “uncensored information” online.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticised the move, calling on the Hong Kong authorities to “end their targeting of individuals in the UK and elsewhere who stand up for freedom and democracy.
“We will not tolerate any attempts by foreign governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, especially in the UK,” Mr Lammy said, adding that the government was committed to supporting people from Hong Kong who have relocated to Britain.
Mr Ho has been charged with subversion while the other six have been accused of inciting secession, and collusion with a foreign country or external forces.
According to Hong Kong’s public broadcaster, RTHK, the arrest warrants were announced just before Christmas by the city’s police chiefs, who accused some activists of urging foreign countries to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong. This narrative aligns with Beijing’s broader framing of international criticism as “foreign interference”.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning backed the authorities’ decision, saying the Chinese government supported Hong Kong “performing its duties in accordance with the law”. She also claimed that Hong Kong was “a society governed by the rule of law and no-one has extrajudicial privileges”.
However, international observers and human rights organizations have consistently refuted such claims, pointing out that the NSL introduces vaguely defined offences, extensive surveillance measures, and extraterritorial enforcement.
Human Rights Watch notes that the NSL “undermines Hong Kong’s rule of law and human rights guarantees enshrined in Hong Kong’s de facto constitution, the Basic Law”. Amnesty International has similarly reported that the NSL has “decimated the city’s freedoms and created a landscape increasingly devoid of human rights protections”. In November 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Office expressed “grave concerns” over the NSL, citing its “sweeping breadth” and how it results in “the criminalisation of conduct protected by human rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association”.
The Hong Kong authorities, often described as Beijing’s proxies since the NSL’s imposition, act under a legal framework that effectively subordinates them to the central government. The law was not debated in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council but unilaterally imposed by Beijing’s National People’s Congress, bypassing local democratic processes. This has further solidified Hong Kong’s transition from a semi-autonomous region to one where its legal system is now an extension of China’s authoritarian governance.
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