Hong Kong police have placed bounties of HK$1m (£100,761) each on eight pro-democracy activists who fled into self-imposed exile, accusing them of serious national security offences including foreign collusion and incitement to secession. The wanted notices were issued on Monday, marking the first such bounties under the city’s sweeping national security law, imposed by China in June 2020.
Superintendent Steve Li announced at a press conference that the assets of the eight individuals—Nathan Law, Anna Kwok, Finn Lau, former lawmakers Dennis Kwok and Ted Hui, lawyer Kevin Yam, unionist Mung Siu-tat, and commentator Yuan Gong-yi—would be frozen where possible. He urged them to surrender, suggesting that doing so might lead to lighter penalties.
The activists, now residing in the US, Britain and Australia, have been warned that anyone supporting them financially risks violating the law. Kevin Yam, speaking from Australia, said he was exercising his free speech rights as an Australian citizen and called the bounties a political show. “All they want to do is try to make a show of their view that the national security law has extra-territorial effect,” he said.
Despite the strong rhetoric, Superintendent Li admitted that the chances of prosecution are slim if the activists remain abroad. “If they don’t return, we won’t be able to arrest them, that’s a fact,” he said. Nearly 260 individuals have been arrested under the national security law in the past three years, with two-thirds charged.
International reactions have been critical. Britain-based Hong Kong Watch urged the UK, the US and Australia to guarantee the activists’ safety, while Human Rights Watch said democracies should reject the warrants and consider imposing new sanctions. The group accused Hong Kong authorities of failing to respect international legal obligations.
