The 41-year-old veteran activist Hui announced in December 2020 that he had gone into exile following Beijing’s crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, which saw the imposition of a sweeping national security law months prior.

Hui is among several overseas activists targeted last year by police bounties of HK$1 million each.

Authorities at the time accused them of “very serious offences that endanger national security”.

At a brief hearing today, a Hong Kong High Court judge made a bankruptcy order against Hui.

Legal documents “have been validly served on the debtor. The debtor has never responded,” High Court judge Kent Yee said.

AFP has contacted Hui for comment. He was not represented in court.

Hui was a high-profile participant in the huge and sometimes violent democracy protests that swept the Chinese finance hub in 2019.

After fleeing Hong Kong, the activist has resettled in Australia and remains a vocal critic of Hong Kong and Beijing authorities.

In 2022, Hui was sentenced to jail in absentia for misleading authorities into letting him leave Hong Kong.

Hui is also wanted by Hong Kong authorities for urging voters to cast blank ballots in the 2021 legislative race after Beijing revamped the electoral system.

Two years ago he criticised HSBC for “unreasonably (freezing) my accounts” after the banking giant complied with a Hong Kong police request.