China puts international bounty on five activists
Since 2020, China has taken back control of Hong Kong and passed a strict "security law". Many activists flee abroad. The authorities want to hunt down five of them and are reaping harsh criticism from the West.
The police in Hong Kong have offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of five activists living abroad. They are accused of crimes against national security, as police representative Steve Li Kwai-wah said. The charges brought against the activists could result in life imprisonment.
According to the police, the five activists each have a bounty of one million Hong Kong dollars (around 116,000 euros) on their heads. Li said that the Hong Kong National Security Police would pursue the five "to the end". Among them is the well-known activist Simon Cheng, who is currently in the UK.
Since Beijing passed a highly controversial so-called security law in 2020, all five activists have been living abroad. The law allows the authorities in Hong Kong to crack down on any activities that they believe threaten China's national security. The so-called Security Law is designed to bring suspects around the world to justice. However, the authorities have not explained how enforcement abroad will be possible.
Clear criticism from the West
The USA and the UK, where several of the activists wanted by Hong Kong have been granted asylum, reacted with harsh criticism to Hong Kong's actions. The USA described the move as a "blatant disregard" for international standards. Washington condemned any attempt "to apply the security law imposed by Beijing extraterritorially", said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron spoke of a "threat to our democracy and fundamental human rights". The United Kingdom would not tolerate attempts to "intimidate, harass or harm" people in the UK.
The human rights organization Amnesty International stated that the bounties would "only exacerbate the existing climate of fear". It is an act of "intimidation that crosses borders and is aimed at silencing dissenters everywhere".
In July, the police in Hong Kong had already put bounties on the heads of eight democracy activists living abroad. At least 30 people in Hong Kong have already been questioned by police over suspected links to the eight activists.
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The international community, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have strongly criticized China's decision to offer rewards for the arrest of five Hong Kong activists living abroad, viewing it as a violation of human rights and international standards. The European Union, in response, has called for the immediate withdrawal of the bounties and for China to respect Hong Kong's autonomy and human rights, emphasizing that these actions undermine the principles of democracy and rule of law.
Source: www.ntv.de
