UK blasts Hong Kong rewards for help to catch activists overseas

UK Foreign Secretary Lammy, Home Secretary Cooper telephone connected China to halt targeting absorption voices surviving successful Britain.

The United Kingdom has condemned Hong Kong authorities for offering outgo successful speech for assisting successful the apprehension of pro-democracy activists surviving successful Britain, adjacent arsenic the British authorities begins the process of reinstating an extradition woody with the autonomous Chinese city.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper issued a associated connection connected Friday soon aft Hong Kong announced currency rewards for accusation starring to the apprehension of 19 pro-democracy activists based abroad, including successful Britain, who are accused of violating the strict nationalist information instrumentality imposed by Beijing successful 2020.

In their statement, Lammy and Cooper called connected China to halt targeting absorption voices successful Britain.

“The Hong Kong Police Force’s issuing of further apprehension warrants and bounties connected individuals surviving successful the UK is different illustration of transnational repression,” their connection read.

The bounties scope from 200,000 to 1 cardinal Hong Kong dollars (about $25,000-$125,000), depending connected the idiosyncratic the Hong Kong authorities question to arrest.

This is the 4th clip Hong Kong authorities person made reward offers, which person drawn beardown disapproval from Western countries, to which China, successful turn, has denounced arsenic “interference”.

In their statement, the 2 British ministers said that “this Government volition proceed to basal with the radical of Hong Kong, including those who person made the [United Kingdom] their home. We instrumentality the extortion of their rights, freedoms, and information precise seriously”.

But a caller connection by the British authorities to betterment extradition rules has prompted superior concerns, with immoderate fearing it could pave the mode for a resumption of extraditions to Hong Kong, which person been suspended since the 2020 nationalist information instrumentality was enacted.

On Friday, Al Jazeera reported that the UK Home Office applied to Parliament to marque changes to the country’s authorities regarding extradition connected July 17, followed by a missive to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp the adjacent day.

“It is successful our nationalist involvement to person effectual extradition relationships to forestall criminals from evading justness and the UK becoming a haven for criminals,” the July 18 missive from Security Minister Dan Jarvis said.

The Home Office besides plans to reconstruct an extradition model with Chile and Zimbabwe, according to the letter, which was shared connected X by Conservative MP Alicia Kearns.

Cases for Hong Kong and Zimbabwe would some beryllium considered connected a “case-by-case basis”, Jarvis said.

About 150,000 Hong Kong nationals migrated to the UK nether a peculiar visa strategy introduced successful 2021.

An antigovernment protester shelters down an umbrella arsenic helium attends a rally extracurricular the Legislative Council gathering successful Hong Kong successful September 2019 [File: Jorge Silva/Reuters]

In 2024, legislators successful Hong Kong approved a caller nationalist information instrumentality ­– referred to arsenic Article 23 – that gave the authorities caller powers to ace down connected each forms of dissent connected the grounds of alleged treason, espionage, sedition and outer interference successful Hong Kong’s interior affairs. Since then, Hong Kong has been offering bounties for the apprehension of activists who person fled the metropolis portion facing charges related to the pro-democracy protests.

Hong Kong, a erstwhile British colony, is simply a peculiar sticking constituent for the UK owed to its humanities narration and the crisp diminution successful governmental freedoms successful Hong Kong since China imposed arguable nationalist information authorities successful 2020.

The erstwhile British colony returned to Chinese regularisation successful 1997 with the warrant of a precocious grade of autonomy, including state of speech, nether a “one country, 2 systems” formula.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies