Hong Kong hits out at UK’s ‘untrue and biased’ criticism over bounties

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.

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 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.

Some of them are reportedly based in the UK, Canada and Taiwan.