Volkswacht Bodensee - Hong Kong cancels passports of six democracy activists

Since authorities quashed massive, at times violent, pro-democracy protests in 2019, Hong Kong has intensified a crackdown on dissent, enacting security laws that critics like Britain and the United States say have curbed the city's unique freedoms.

Last year Hong Kong issued HK$1 million ($128,000) bounties for 13 activists based abroad who authorities accused of committing national security crimes.

The six named Wednesday -- all on the bounty list -- are considered "lawless wanted criminals... hiding in the United Kingdom", a government spokesperson said in a statement.

"They continue to blatantly engage in activities that endanger national security. They also make scaremongering remarks to smear and slander the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region," the spokesperson said.

"We therefore have taken such measure to give them a strong blow."

Besides cancelling their Hong Kong passports, police said anyone offering funds, leasing property or running a business with those named could face up to seven years in jail.

The six are former pro-democracy lawmaker Nathan Law, veteran unionist Christopher Mung Siu-tat, and activists Finn Lau, Fok Ka-chi, Choi Ming-da and Simon Cheng, the founder of the civil society group Hongkongers in Britain.

Hong Kong officials cited a national security law passed in March -- colloquially known as Article 23 -- as the legal basis for cancelling their passports.

Finn Lau condemned the government on Wednesday, and said he has only ever held a British National Overseas passport, which is available to Hong Kongers born in the former British colony before the 1997 handover back to China.

"It is ridiculous to cancel... (a Hong Kong passport) that never exists," he said in a statement on social media platform X.

"Such a deployment of Hong Kong Article 23 ordinance is an explicit act of transnational repression and another breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration," Lau said, adding that this "does not deter me from advocating human rights & democracy."

Nathan Law also said cancelling his passport was "superfluous" as he had been granted asylum in the United Kingdom since 2021.

Regarding the potential legal risks for anyone offering money or doing business with him, Law wrote on Facebook that if the government's measures "cause concern for friends in Hong Kong, please put your personal safety first".

- Bounties issued -

Wednesday's move came on the fifth anniversary of a violent clash between protesters and police that marked a major escalation in the pro-democracy protests of 2019 in Hong Kong.

A former British colony before the 1997 handover, the city enjoys more freedoms and rights than its mainland counterparts, and has a robust opposition bloc that has long advocated for more democratic processes.

After quashing the protests, Beijing in 2020 imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 which critics say has broken down the legal firewall that once existed between the city and mainland China.

The law also claims the power to hold accused people accountable across the world.

Article 23, the homegrown national security law passed in March, granted Hong Kong authorities further enforcement powers, including the cancelling of passports.

The six people named Wednesday have been accused of national security crimes including incitement to secession, incitement to subversion and foreign collusion -- offences that could land them in prison for life.

City leader John Lee, who was sanctioned by the United States for his role as security chief in 2019, said last year that the wanted activists would be "pursued for life" and called on them to surrender.

Five others in Hong Kong have been arrested for allegedly providing financial support for the wanted activists. They have been released on bail.

Around 40 family members and former colleagues of Hong Kong's bounty targets have been taken in for police questioning over the past year.

M.Schneider--VB