Hong Kong police on Thursday announced hefty rewards for help catching Frances Hui and fellow activists accused of national security crimes.
“The Hong Kong government deliberately took a high-profile way to issue bounties for the arrest of overseas activists,” Hui said at Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.
“They wanted to create a chilling effect on the community at large and to isolate us.”
The HK$1,000,000 (US$128,000) bounties, the second batch of rewards offered by Hong Kong police pursuing fugitives, were swiftly condemned by the US and Britain, with London calling them “a threat to our democracy and fundamental human rights.
Top US diplomat Antony Blinken on Friday decried Hong Kong’s “transnational repression” and “the deterioration of that city’s once proud tradition of respecting the rule of law.”
“We strongly oppose any efforts to intimidate and silence individuals who choose to make the United States their home and will not waver in standing up for those who are targeted simply for exercising their human rights,” he said in a statement.
Hui said she is grieving the recent passing of her grandmother, and her pain is compounded by her inability to attend the funeral back home.
“This is one of the things that many of us in exile have to accept and cope with, which is the chances of not being able to spend time and be there for people who hold weight in our lives,” Hui said, her voice trembling.
Nevertheless, Hui vowed to continue her campaign for sanctions against officials in Hong Kong and China.
“I call on the international community, particularly the US, the UK and Australia, where the bountied individuals are residing, to fight against the CCP’s transnational repression, interference and international human rights abuses,” she said, referring to China’s Communist Party.
The five activists fled Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the financial hub in 2020 to quash dissent after massive pro-democracy protests.
Hui’s colleagues have been identified as Britain-based Simon Cheng as well as Joey Siu, Fok Ka-chi and Choi Ming-da.
Speaking alongside Hui, Piero Tozzi, head of a China monitoring group in the US Congress, also called for sanctioning prosecutors and judges in China and Hong Kong who are involved in the crackdown.
“What we see is not rule of law, but rule by law and using law as a tool to harass and intimidate and in violation of that basic law,” he said.
Beijing defended the bounties as necessary and lashed out at Washington and London.
“By cheering on these anti-China individuals that are bringing havoc to Hong Kong, the United States and Britain are exposing their malicious intentions in messing up Hong Kong,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said in Beijing.