Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned Hong Kong authorities this week for issuing a fresh round of arrest warrants and bounties against several pro-democracy activists living in other countries, including the US.
“The extraterritorial targeting of Hong Kongers who are exercising their fundamental freedoms is a form of transnational repression,” Rubio said in a July 26 statement. “We will not tolerate the Hong Kong government’s attempts to apply its national security laws to silence or intimidate Americans or anyone on U.S. soil.”
On July 25, Hong Kong police issued arrest warrants for 19 individuals linked to Hong Kong Parliament, an electoral organizing committee founded in Canada. Authorities accused them of trying to subvert state power “using illegal means,” according to a statement from the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force.
Among those named were businessman Elmer Yuen, commentator Victor Ho, and activists Johnny Fok and Tony Choi — all previously targeted with HK$1 million ($127,000) bounties. Police are now offering HK$200,000 ($25,480) rewards for each of the remaining 15 individuals.
In turn, the Hong Kong Parliament, in a July 27 statement, accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of “extending its coercive reach beyond China’s borders and infringing upon the sovereignty of democratic nations.”
On its website, the group says it aims to serve as a “representative voice and a protective institution for Hongkongers worldwide” and is dedicated to upholding the rule of law and exposing the CCP’s “authoritarianism masked as legitimacy.”
According to the Hong Kong Free Press, the latest round of arrest warrants raises the number of individuals wanted for alleged national security violations to 34.
Rubio warned that the move marked a broader trend of Beijing backtracking on its commitments to Hong Kong’s freedoms and self-governance.
“With this new round of arrest warrants and bounties,” Rubio said, “the Hong Kong government continues to erode the autonomy that Beijing itself promised to the people of Hong Kong following the 1997 handover.”
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Author: Elise Winland
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