[ad_1]
The arrest comes after China imposed a comprehensive new national security law in Hong Kong in late June.
Activist Joshua Wong speaks to the media after being arrested for participating in an unauthorized assembly last year in Hong Kong, China. September 24, 2020 (Reuters)
Hong Kong police arrested prominent democracy activist Joshua Wong for participating in an unauthorized assembly in October 2019 and violating the city’s anti-mask law, according to a post on his official Twitter account.
Wong’s latest arrest adds to several charges of illegal assembly or alleged crimes that he and other activists face related to last year’s pro-democracy protests, which prompted Beijing to impose a comprehensive national security law on May 30. June.
Hong Kong police confirmed that they arrested two men, ages 23 and 74, on Thursday for illegal assembly on October 5, 2019.
#BREAK Joshua is arrested when he shows up at the central police station around 1:00 pm today. The arrest is related to participation in an unauthorized assembly on October 5 of last year. He is told that he also violated the draconian law against masks.
– Joshua Wong 黄 之 锋 😷 (@joshuawongcf) September 24, 2020
UK expresses concern
Britain, which ran Hong Kong until a 1997 handover to China, the terms of which were agreed in a Joint Statement between London and Beijing, expressed concern over Wong’s arrest.
“I am deeply concerned about the arrest of Joshua Wong, another example of Hong Kong authorities targeting activists,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a tweet.
“The Chinese and Hong Kong authorities should respect the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people, as protected in the Joint Declaration,” he said.
READ MORE:
Protesters in Hong Kong Demonstrate Against Postponed Elections and Security Law
I am deeply concerned about the arrest of Joshua Wong, another example of how the Hong Kong authorities target activists. The Chinese and Hong Kong authorities must respect the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people, as protected in the Joint Declaration.
– Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) September 24, 2020
‘Black hand’
The arrest of the 23-year-old Wong comes about 6 weeks after media mogul Jimmy Lai was arrested on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces.
Wong had been a frequent visitor to Washington, where he called on the United States Congress to support Hong Kong’s democracy movement and counter Beijing’s increasing control over the world’s financial center. His visits drew the ire of Beijing, which it says is a “black hand” of foreign forces.
Wong disbanded his pro-democracy group Demosisto in June, just hours after the Chinese parliament passed a national security law for Hong Kong, bypassing the city’s local legislature, a move widely criticized by Western governments.
Fame after umbrella move
His long-time colleague, Agnes Chow, and two other activists were also among 10 people arrested by police in August on suspicion of violating the new law.
The new law punishes, up to life in prison, for anything that China considers subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.
Wong was only 17 when he became the face of the student-led Umbrella Movement democracy protests in 2014, but he was not a leading figure in the often violent riots that rocked the former semi-autonomous British colony last year.
An anti-mask law, introduced last year in an attempt to help police identify protesters suspected of having committed crimes, faces a challenge in court. The Hong Kong government has made face masks mandatory in most circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic.
READ MORE:
Hong Kong arrests opposition lawmakers over 2019 protests
Source: Reuters
[ad_2]
