Hong Kong’s government used its new national-security law on Wednesday to cancel the passports of six pro-democracy activists who fled to the U.K., in a show of force by the Beijing-controlled government.
The six activists who had their passports revoked are former Hong Kong lawmaker Nathan Law, unionist Christopher Mung Siu-tat, and activists Finn Lau, Simon Cheng, Johnny Fok Ka-chi, and Tony Choi Ming-da. Accused by authorities of endangering China’s national security, all six were placed on a wanted list last year.
At the time, police issued arrest warrants for at least 13 overseas activists and offered bounties amounting to 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($127,656) each.
“These lawless wanted criminals are hiding in the United Kingdom and continue to blatantly engage in activities that endanger national security,” Hong Kong’s Security Bureau said Wednesday, according to Reuters. “They continue to collude with external forces to protect their evil deeds. We therefore have taken such measures to give them a strong blow.”
Additional measures taken involve banning anyone from providing funds or economic resources to the six activists, leasing properties to them, or forming a joint venture with them. Failing to heed these restrictions would carry a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
In response to his passport being canceled, Law said the move was “redundant,” as he had already given up his Hong Kong passport when applying for asylum to the U.K. in 2020. Lau, who never applied for or owned a Hong Kong passport, called the move “an explicit act of transnational repression.”
The actions fall under the city’s new security law known as Article 23, which was enacted in March. Similar to the 2020 law that mainland China imposed on Hong Kong, the new set of laws include punishments for treason, sabotage, and sedition.
Since anti-government protests shook the city in 2019 and 2020, Beijing has used the law to imprison pro-democracy activists and target non-governmental organizations in the name of maintaining stability. Punishable crimes in the 2020 security law include what critics call vaguely defined terms of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.
The latest crackdown on Hong Kong dissidents comes two weeks after 14 pro-democracy activists were convicted on subversion charges, while two were acquitted of the supposed crime. The 16 defendants, who previously pled not guilty to the charges, were among 47 prosecuted in 2021 for attempting to overthrow Hong Kong’s government by holding an unofficial primary election to nominate opposition candidates for the 2020 legislative election.
Meanwhile, billionaire newspaper publisher and pro-democracy dissident Jimmy Lai is awaiting trial for allegedly violating the draconian national-security law. The 76-year-old, who was sentenced to six years in prison in December 2022 on separate charges, is being held in solitary confinement. He pled not guilty to charges of sedition and collusion with foreign governments in January.