Latest news with #bounties
Wall Street Journal
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Britain Caves on Hong Kong Extradition
Hong Kong has imposed bounties on dissidents in exile and threatened to pursue them for life, and recently authorities added 15 more names to its wanted list. Yet in the U.K., where many Hong Kongers have taken refuge, the Labour government wants to weaken restrictions on extradition to the former British colony. The United Kingdom suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in 2020 after authorities imposed a national-security law that outlaws dissent. The Labour government has now proposed resuming some extraditions on a 'case-by-case ad hoc basis,' according to a July 18 letter from the Home Office published on social media last week by conservative MP Alicia Kearns. Security Minister Dan Jarvis noted in the letter that Hong Kong has also suspended extraditions and asserted 'it is in our national interest to have effective extradition relationships to prevent criminals from evading justice and the UK becoming a haven for fugitives.' He has also claimed Hong Kongers won't be 'extradited for politically motivated purposes.' But Britain's bountied Hong Kongers aren't reassured. Publisher Jimmy Lai—a British citizen—has been in a Hong Kong prison since 2020 on bogus charges.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Canada condemns Hong Kong for activist arrest warrants
Watch The Canadian government is condemning Hong Kong's actions after authorities issued bounties and warrants for pro-democracy activists.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
UK slams fresh Hong Kong bounties on activists as ‘transnational repression'
Britain has hit out at Hong Kong's move to place a new round of bounties on 15 overseas activists accused of national security offences, saying it is another example of 'transnational repression' that only damages the city's international reputation. Advertisement UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also stressed on Friday that Britain was committed to the safety of all individuals settled there and had taken steps to 'complete the severing of ties' between the extradition systems of the country and Hong Kong. 'This government will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong, including those who have made the UK their home. We take the protection of their rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously, and will not tolerate any attempts by foreign governments to coerce, intimidate, harass, or harm their critics overseas,' Lammy and Cooper said. The joint statement by the two senior British officials was made hours after the city's national security police placed the bounties on the 15 activists and issued new arrest warrants against four more, over their involvement in the 'Hong Kong Parliament', a group deemed as subversive by authorities. A bounty of HK$200,000 was placed on each of the 15 activists listed in the latest announcement, as police accused those behind the group of violating the Beijing-decreed national security law by attempting to unlawfully overthrow and undermine the constitutional system, and Chinese and Hong Kong authorities. Advertisement Some of them are reportedly based in the UK, Canada and Taiwan.
