China has stated the contentious bounty introduced by the Hong Kong police for details about dissidents taking refuge overseas was “justified” amid overwhelming criticism from overseas governments and human rights teams.
A reward of $1m Hong Kong (£100,942) was introduced in trade for data to help the arrest of 13 opposition figures who’re accused of violating the semi-autonomous Chinese language metropolis’s Nationwide Safety Legislation which led to widespread protests in 2019.
The bounty was imposed on former UK consulate worker Simon Cheng, together with Johnny Fok and Tony Choi, who host a YouTube channel specializing in present affairs.
The arrest orders had been “mandatory and justified and – consistent with worldwide legislation and observe”, stated Chinese language overseas ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, saying the Xi Jinping administration rejects the skin criticism.
She cited extraterritorial elements of different nation’s legal guidelines on nationwide safety, in an oblique reference to the bounty and stated that any help from overseas for these on the record was merely cowl for his or her goal of destabilising Hong Kong. The Asian monetary centre was rocked by dramatic protests in 2019 with anti-government protests over the over-reaching nationwide safety legislation.
“We strongly oppose and deplore the person international locations slandering Hong Kong’s nationwide safety legislation and interfering within the judicial system,” the minister stated.
This comes a day after the Hong Kong police accused 5 extra overseas-based activists of violating the Nationwide Safety Legislation of Beijing and rolled out rewards for his or her arrests.
The 5 activists “endangered nationwide safety by destabilising Hong Kong below the guise of democracy and human rights”, Ms Mao stated.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken stated Hong Kong authorities displayed their “disregard for worldwide norms and human rights in Hong Kong.”
“We strongly oppose any efforts to intimidate and silence people who select to make america their dwelling and won’t waver in standing up for individuals who are focused merely for exercising their human rights,” he stated in a press release on Friday.
Responding to the remarks from the highest US official, the Hong Kong authorities stated that the measures taken had been “consistent with worldwide observe”. It added that no nation ought to “harbour criminals nor exonerate these folks with completely different excuses”.
The bounty additional intensified the Hong Kong authorities’s crackdown on dissidents following the 2019 demonstration that grew more and more violent and had been harshly suppressed by police.
“This morning I, a US citizen, woke as much as the information that an arrest warrant and a HKD $1m bounty have been positioned on my head by the Hong Kong govt. for exercising my freedoms in my very own nation,” stated Joey Siu, one of many 5 activists, in a put up on social media web site X, previously often known as Twitter.
“Extra to say later however for now: I’ll by no means be silenced, I’ll by no means again down,” stated Siu, who was born in North Carolina and moved to Hong Kong as a toddler. The police discover listed her alleged crimes as “colluding with a overseas nation or abroad forces to hazard nationwide safety.”
The British and the US authorities have condemned the arrest warrants and bounties as flying within the face of human rights and democratic norms.
In response, Ms Mao responded Friday accusing the 2 nations of supporting “these anti-China components uncovered their sinister intention of messing up Hong Kong.”
“China’s willpower to safeguard its nationwide sovereignty, safety and growth pursuits is unwavering. The international locations involved ought to respect China’s sovereignty and the rule of legislation in Hong Kong and cease interfering in China’s inside affairs,” she stated.
Amnesty Worldwide described the bounty as “absurd” and “designed to sow worry worldwide.”
“That is additional affirmation that the Hong Kong authorities’ systematic dismantling of human rights has formally gone international. The brazen tactic of putting ‘Wild West’-style bounties on activists’ heads appears to be rising as a technique of option to silence dissent,” stated Sarah Brooks, Amnesty Worldwide’s deputy director for the area.