Police in Chinese territory are offering a $130,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of six activists.
Hong Kong authorities have placed bounties on six pro-democracy activists accused of endangering national security in the latest crackdown, highlighting the shrinking space for dissent in the financial hub.
Tuesday’s police announcement marks the third time authorities have offered a reward of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($130,000) for information leading to the arrest of pro-democracy advocates abroad.
There are now 19 activists on the Chinese territory’s wanted list, accused of vaguely defined crimes such as secession, subversion or collusion.
Hong Kong Security Minister Chris Tang said the activists had endangered national security through activities such as lobbying for sanctions against Hong Kong officials and judges.
The new activists include Tony Chung, the former head of the Hong Kong independence group Studentlocalism, Joseph Tay, founder of the Canada-based advocacy group Hongkonger Station, and Carmen Lau of the Hong Kong Democracy Council.
The others are Chung Kim-wah, a former pollster at the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, Victor Ho, a Canada-based YouTuber, and Chloe Cheung of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong.
“Since I fled, I have often regretted not being able to serve my people to the end,” Lau said in a post on X.
“Therefore, as a member of the diaspora and as a Hong Konger, I vow to put our fight for Hong Kong above everything else, even myself.”
Authorities also said they had canceled the passports of seven activists previously on the wanted list, including former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui.
Once home to a vigorous political opposition and one of the freest media environments in Asia, Hong Kong has criminalized virtually any dissent under strict security laws introduced in response to mass anti-government protests in 2019.
Western governments and human rights groups have condemned the crackdown in the former British colony, while officials in mainland China and Hong Kong have defended the laws as necessary to restore stability after often violent demonstrations in 2019.
None of the 19 people on the wanted list are likely to be extradited to Hong Kong because they live in Western countries that have expressed concern about the loss of rights and freedoms in the city.
Kevin Yam, an Australia-based lawyer who was put on the wanted list last July after being accused of collaborating with a foreign power, said the latest bounties would undermine the city’s efforts to revive its international reputation, which has been damaged by the raids and some battered was one of the world’s toughest border controls during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What I would say is that every time the Hong Kong government tries to revitalize itself, it takes repressive measures to undermine all of that,” Yam told Al Jazeera.
“And they are childish enough to believe that in an era of the 24-hour news cycle, releasing ‘bad news’ on Christmas Eve can make things look less bad for them.”
