Getty ImagesPolice in Hong Kong have offered rewards of HK$1 million (£103,000; $129,000) for information leading to the arrests of six pro-democracy activists living in the UK and Canada.
Among them is Tony Chung, a former leader of an independence group who fled to the UK last year.
The group, which includes a former district councillor, actor and YouTuber, is lobbying for more democracy in the territory. All are accused of violating the city's national security law.
Human Rights Watch said the orders were a “cowardly act of intimidation aimed at silencing the people of Hong Kong” and called on the UK and Canadian governments to fight back.
Also on the wanted list are former district councilor Carmen Lau and activist Chloe Chung. Both are based in the UK and lobby on behalf of two NGOs calling for more democracy in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants for political commentator and pollster Chung Kim-wah, who left Hong Kong for the UK in 2022, as well as two people based in Canada: former actor Joseph Tay, who co-founded the non-governmental organization HongKonger Station , and Youtuber Victor Ho.
Mr. Ho is charged with subversion, while the other six are charged with inciting secession and colluding with a foreign country or foreign power.
According to Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK, the arrest warrants were announced by the city's top police chiefs on Tuesday, who accused some of the wanted activists of repeatedly asking foreign countries to impose sanctions and other measures against China and Hong Kong.
Mr Chung was first sentenced in 2021. for calling for Hong Kong secession and was released in June last year.
He posted on Instagram on Tuesday that he was “honoured to become the first Hong Kong resident to be charged twice under the National Security Act”.
Mr Chung said the news did not come as a surprise to him as he breached a supervision order after his release from prison by fleeing to the UK last year.
“I knew this day would come. From the moment I decided to leave Hong Kong, I was fully aware that I would not be able to return for a long time,” he wrote.
Getty ImagesMs. Lau posted on X that the order would not stop her advocacy work. She called on the UK, US and EU governments to impose sanctions on “human rights abusers in Hong Kong”.
She also asked Britain's Labor government to “seriously review its strategies for dealing with transnational repression directed at Hong Kong residents” and consider blocking the expansion of the Chinese embassy in Tower Hill.
Earlier this month councilors from Tower Hamlets voted unanimously to reject plans for a new Chinese embassy. However, the ruling is advisory only, not binding, and it will be up to Deputy Prime Minister and Communities Secretary Angela Rayner to decide whether or not to grant permission.
This is the third round of arrest warrants and bounties issued since the imposition of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law.
The first two rounds were issued in July and December last year and targeted former lawmaker Nathan Lowe – who told the BBC last year that his life became more dangerous after the award was announced – and Simon Cheng, a former British consular officer detained in 2019 in a sensational case. Both men are now based in the UK.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning supported the move on Tuesday as the Chinese government supports Hong Kong “fulfilling its obligations in accordance with the law”.
She added that Hong Kong is a “society governed by the rule of law and no one has extrajudicial privileges”.
Hong Kong's controversial national security law was imposed in 2020 in response to anti-government protests in 2019 that rocked the city for months.
Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong say the law is needed to maintain stability and deny it has weakened autonomy, but critics say it has reduced the city's autonomy and made a wider range of dissent illegal.