Hong Kong: Washington condemns a campaign of “transnational repression”

The United States on Thursday condemned an “ongoing campaign of transnational repression by the Hong Kong government” days after that territory’s police issued rewards for information that could lead to the arrest of six pro-democracy activists in exile.

This measure, decided within the framework of the national security law imposed by Beijing, is “a form of transnational repression that threatens the sovereignty of the United States, the human rights and fundamental freedoms of people around the world”, a said Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US State Department, in a statement.

On Tuesday, the police in this semi-autonomous region of China announced they were offering rewards of around one million Hong Kong dollars (nearly 117,000 Swiss francs) for any information that could lead to the arrest of these exiled activists. .

“Incitement to secession”

This is the third time that the authorities of this territory returned to China in 1997 have resorted to such a measure, considered essentially symbolic, under the legislation adopted following the massive and sometimes violent demonstrations of 2019.

These reward offers target five people accused of “incitement to secession” and “collusion” with a foreign country, as well as YouTuber Victor Ho Leung-mau, 69, charged with “subversion”.

“The United States condemns the issuance of new arrest warrants and rewards for six pro-democracy individuals and the cancellation of passports for seven other activists, including some living in the United States,” the spokesperson said. of American diplomacy.

“Cowardly acts of intimidation”

“We reject the Hong Kong government’s efforts to intimidate and silence people who have chosen to call the United States their country,” Miller said in the statement.

The human rights organization HRW denounced these measures on Tuesday as “cowardly acts of intimidation”, calling on the United Kingdom and Canada, where many opponents are exiled, to react.

The two previous announcements of reward offers for pro-democracy activists from the former British colony had been condemned by Western countries, accused in turn by Hong Kong and China of interference.

Many of the figures of the 2019 demonstrations went into exile or were imprisoned, with Hong Kong justice still sentencing 45 of them at the end of November to sentences of up to ten years in prison.

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