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HONG KONG: A dozen people fleeing Hong Kong by speedboat, including an activist arrested under the new national security law, were captured by China, city police said on Friday (August 28).
The ship was intercepted by the coast guard, police said, and local media said it was headed for Taiwan, an island that regularly provides refuge for people fleeing the mainland.
Multiple media reports said the 12 included Andy Li, who was arrested earlier this month for alleged collusion with foreign forces, a crime under the new Beijing-imposed law that carries a possible life sentence.
The pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po newspaper, citing unidentified sources, said others on board included several arrested for their involvement in the sometimes violent protests that raged in Hong Kong for much of 2019.
Beijing imposed its national security law in June after growing weary of the protests.
Overnight, certain opinions and expressions in a previously free Hong Kong became illegal, and activists have spoken of a profound chilling effect that has caused books to be pulled from libraries and publishers to rush. to amend their titles.
READ: China’s Polarizing New Security Law: Sunset for Hong Kong or Return to Stability?
The Hong Kong administration insists that the law did not violate the rights to freedom of expression and assembly guaranteed to the territory when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
But various pro-democracy figures have fled the city since it came into force, fearful of being swept up in Beijing’s web and disappearing into the continent’s opaque justice system, run by the Communist Party.
Before the new law was imposed in response to the huge protests that erupted in June 2019, Hong Kong police had arrested more than 9,000 people, more than 600 of whom were charged with riot, which carries a maximum penalty. 10 years in jail.
At least 50 former protesters from Hong Kong had already sought asylum in various jurisdictions before the COVID-19 pandemic ended most international travel. Hundreds more have moved to democratic Taiwan.
LEE: China criticizes Taiwan for the offer to the Hong Kong protesters
Hong Kong police said the 12, aged 16 to 33, were being held by authorities in mainland China.
They did not give details on when they would be returned to Hong Kong.
