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HONG KONG: The Hong Kong government has stood firm in its refusal to interfere with the arrest of 12 residents seeking to flee to Taiwan by sea, despite requests from families for help, saying the crime is under the jurisdiction of Mainland China.
In a statement late Sunday (September 13) quoted by public broadcaster RTHK, Hong Kong authorities said they had received requests for help from the families of residents who were detained last month by government forces. order from mainland China for illegally entering mainland China after attempting to flee to Taiwan.
LEE: China calls Hong Kong people arrested at sea ‘separatists’
China on Sunday called the group “separatists.”
“The relevant crime falls within the jurisdiction of the mainland and the government of the special administrative region respects and will not interfere with law enforcement actions,” the Hong Kong government said.
The group was suspected of having committed “various criminal offenses” in Hong Kong, he added, and urged families to make use of a free legal consultation service.
The comments came a day after relatives of the detainees held a press conference in Hong Kong, demanding the urgent return of the 12 who were intercepted by the Guangdong coast guard on August 23 on a boat bound for Taiwan.
By donning masks and hats to protect their identities, the families plead that those arrested be allowed to consult their appointed lawyers rather than the Chinese government, and that they be allowed to call relatives in Hong Kong.
READ: Families of captured Hong Kong activists demand their return from Chinese detention
A 16-year-old boy is the youngest in detention and several need medication, relatives said.
The arrests came about two months after Beijing imposed a security law on the Asian financial center after months of protests.
Critics have said the law has pushed the former British colony onto a more authoritarian path.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the people arrested were separatists, in response to its US counterpart’s characterization of the arrest as an impairment of human rights.
US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus tweeted that the arrests were “another example of the deterioration of human rights in Hong Kong” and called on the mainland authorities to “ensure due process.”
