Letters Call On UK Residents To Hand Hong Kongers Over To China For Reward
By Matthew Leung
Calls are growing for the British government to take action to protect Hong Kongers in the country from the China’s “long-arm” law enforcement after the neighbors of two wanted pro-democracy activists received anonymous letters urging them to bring the activists to the Chinese Embassy in London.
The letters repeat the exact wording of Hong Kong police wanted notices offering bounties of HK$1 million (US$128,000) for the arrest of “fugitives” under national security legislation.
They were sent to people living near U.K.-based pro-independence activist Tony Chung and former district councilor Carmen Lau, they told RFA Cantonese in interviews last month.
“A reward of one million Hong Kong dollars is being offered by Hong Kong Police to any member of the public, who can provide information on this wanted person and the related crime or take him to Chinese embassy,” the letters read. The included a Hong Kong national security police email address where they could give information and claim their reward.
Both Lau and Chung have a HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounty on their heads and stand accused of “incitement to secession” by Hong Kong’s National Security Police, who are waging an ongoing crackdown on political opposition and public dissent.
Hong Kong authorities have vowed to pursue activists in exile for life, while jailing political activists at home for “subversion” and putting pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai on trial for “collusion with foreign powers” after articles in his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper called for sanctions on Hong Kong.
Calls to protect Hong Kongers in the UK
The letters have prompted calls in the House of Commons for the British government to do more to protect more than 220,000 Hong Kongers who have come to live in the country under its British National Overseas lifeboat visa program.
“We have received assurances from counter-terror policing that the appropriate measures are in place for the individuals in question,” Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis told members of Parliament in a debate on March 4.
“The continued safety of Hong Kongers remains a priority for this Government,” he said. “I want to be clear that we will not tolerate any attempts by foreign governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, especially here in the U.K.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the harassment of Hong Kongers on British soil was “completely unacceptable.”
“It is a gross infringement of the liberty of the individuals concerned and it is an affront to British sovereignty,” Philp said.
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