China uses Hong Kong security law against US and UK-based activists

Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants for six
pro-democracy activists living in exile, the first time the city’s authorities
have used a sweeping new law to target campaigners living outside Hong Kong.
They include Samuel Chu, an American citizen who
lives in the US, Nathan Law, a prominent campaigner who recently relocated to
the UK after fleeing Hong Kong, and Simon Cheng, a former British consular
staffer who was granted asylum in the UK after alleging he was tortured in
China.
Chinese state media reported that the six men were
wanted for “incitement to secession and collusion with foreign forces”.
The move comes a month after China introduced a
controversial national security law in Hong Kong. China said the legislation
targets the crimes of “secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with
foreign forces” and carries penalties as severe as life in prison.
Critics warned that it would be used to target
legitimate opposition, and highlighted the unusual decision to make the law
applicable to both Hong Kong residents and non-residents. That apparently gives
China jurisdiction beyond its own borders.
Chu, who runs the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a
Washington DC-based advocacy organization dedicated to furthering Hong Kong’s
freedom and democracy, is the first person targeted under this aspect of the
law.
He said China was sending a clear message to other
activists by ordering his arrest.
“I would
really emphasize how outrageous this really is,” Chu told the Guardian. “I am
the first non-Chinese citizen that essentially is being targeted. I think they
do intend to try to make this an example.”
Several countries have since suspended their
extradition treaties with Hong Kong, including the UK, Australia and Germany,
as a possible safeguard against attempts to use the national security laws to round
up activists abroad. The US ordered an end to Hong Kong’s special economic
status earlier in July.
Chu, who has lived in the US as an American citizen
since 1996, said the charges amounted to China “targeting a US citizen for
lobbying my own government”.
“We always knew that when the national security law
went into effect there was a very troubling and illogical, irrational idea that
they were claiming jurisdiction over anyone who is not even a Hong Kong
resident, who is anywhere in the world, doing anything that they deemed
threatening,” he said.
The other activists charged wereRay Wong, Wayne Chan
and Honcques Laus.
Wong, who is currently in the UK, told Reuters the
charges showed that the Chinese government was afraid of the advocacy work of
Hong Kong activists internationally.
“I think they want to cut off our connection with
people in Hong Kong … it will make people fear that they may violate the
national security law by contacting us,” Wong said.