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Nathan Law, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists and as such wanted by Beijing, spoke to FRANCE 24’s Marc Perelman from the UK. He discussed the current situation in Hong Kong and the actions taken by the Chinese authorities against pro-democracy activists abroad.
In early July, the Hong Kong authorities issued arrest warrants for Law and seven other exiled activists, offering a bounty of HK$1 million Hong Kong dollars (roughly $127,735) for each of them. This is “definitely a step-up of intimidation tactics” from China, since the bounties are an “unprecedented” move that has “never happened in the history of Hong Kong,” Law said.
“It really shows that Beijing has been determined to continue to deteriorate Hong Kong’s freedom,” he added.
Read moreHong Kong police offer bounty for information on activists who fled abroad
Back in June, British police opened an investigation after video footage showed pro-Hong Kong demonstrators being attacked by a group of Chinese activists in Southampton. And last October, a Hong Kong protester was attacked on the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester. This resulted in Beijing removing six Chinese diplomats who were allegedly involved in the latter incident.
Law said that there have been “numerous cases” where the Chinese government “extraterritorially” persecutes or assaults “political dissidents in different parts of the world”. Even if this is “fairly unlikely to happen in the United Kingdom”, he said, if the “step-up of intimidation” continues, Law fears that his and other activists’ safety “will be at risk”.
The most important thing is that the international community “does not condone actions like this”, Law said. Condemning the Chinese government for its “extraterritorial persecution and attacks” is “the best way to stop it”, the activist added.
This story originally appeared on France24
