Hong Kong Watch condemns threats against family members of overseas Hong Kong activists
Today, the Hong Kong national security police raided the home of Simon Cheng Man-kit’s parents and sisters and took them away for questioning. The police asked whether they were in contact with Mr Cheng or had offered him financial support. They were later released without arrest.
Simon Cheng, 33, was charged last month with alleged incitement to secession and collusion between August 2020 and June 2022. Mr Cheng is based in the UK and founded Hongkongers in Britain, the largest UK-wide Hong Kong diaspora organisation. Mr Cheng fled to the UK and was granted asylum in June 2020 after being detained, beaten and forced to agree to false confessions in mainland China after returning to Hong Kong from a business trip to mainland China in August 2019. At the time, Mr Cheng was working as a British consulate staffer.
Mr Cheng’s alleged offences are part of the latest round of arrest warrants with HK$1 million (£101,118) bounties that were issued against five overseas Hong Kongers who now live and advocate for democracy in the UK and US last month: Simon Cheng, Joey Siu, Frances Hui, Johnny Fok and Tony Choi. Hong Kong Watch condemned these arrest warrants and led a joint letter with more than 80 Hong Kong civil society and human rights organisations around the world calling for government action in response.
The Hong Kong authorities first issued arrest warrants with bounties for eight exiled Hong Kong activists in the UK, US and Australia in July 2023: Nathan Law, Christopher Mung, Finn Lau, Dennis Kwok, Anna Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Ted Hui and Kevin Yam. Between July 2023 and September 2023, the authorities also questioned the family members of Nathan Law, Christopher Mung, Dennis Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Anna Kwok and Ted Hui.
The targeting of Mr Cheng’s family members also follows the questioning of activist Agnes Chow-ting’s family members two weeks ago, after she publicly announced that she had fled to Canada for study and would therefore not complete her bail conditions. In December 2023, the Hong Kong national security police also searched the family home and questioned the mother of US-based activist Frances Hui.
Hong Kong Watch urges the UK Government to reiterate that the Hong Kong National Security Law does not apply in Britain, and condemn the targeting of Mr Cheng’s family members. The UK Government should also urge like-minded governments to suspend the remaining extradition treaties that exist between democracies and the Hong Kong and Chinese Governments, and work towards coordinating an INTERPOL early warning system to protect Hong Kongers and other dissidents abroad.
Given Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron’s previous condemnation of the Hong Kong National Security Law as a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and China’s commitments under international law, the UK Government should also review Hong Kong Watch’s formal sanctions submission in May 2023, endorsed by Baroness Helena Kennedy, KC and Sir Geoffrey Nice, KC, to implement Magnitsky-style sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, including asset freezes and a travel ban, for his egregious human rights violations worldwide.
Simon Cheng released a statement, saying:
“My father swam to Hong Kong in his early years, living under others' roofs and once residing in the Kowloon Walled City… I remember my father saying that in that particular year, upon seeing the lights and soda cans reflected from Hong Kong, he swam across to the other side, a perilous journey. In pursuit of the dream of freedom, he navigated between the power gaps of two influential nations, a penniless young man carrying the burden of a fractured family separated between mainland China and Hong Kong.
“Distancing away, we are at different places now – struggling to survive in this harsh world… Though the broken mirror once reunited, the cracks persist, and now it shatters again. I will bear this responsibility, continuing the unpredictable fate of the country and family with those ups and downs. My only hope is that my parents can enjoy a dignified, peaceful, and serene old age – until our next life when and where we may finally meet.”
Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Watch said:
“The Hong Kong authorities have no business questioning the family members of a brave Hong Kong activist who fled from Hong Kong to the UK more than three years ago.
“This incident shows that Hong Kong is increasingly becoming more like mainland China, where individuals and their families are targeted and questioned for simply speaking the truth to power. It must be made immediately clear that the extraterritoriality of the National Security Law is not valid in Britain, and is in clear violation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
“From the questioning of Simon Cheng’s family to the outrageous show trial of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong authorities’ actions which openly threaten activists in Hong Kong and abroad are completely unacceptable. The UK must stand up to the Chinese Communist Party, and stand alongside our courageous friends who continue to advocate for democracy and defend their homeland.”
香港監察譴責國安處帶走被通緝海外港人鄭文傑家人問話
香港警方國安處人員今天突擊搜查被通緝海外港人鄭文傑父母和兩名姐姐的住所，並將他們帶返警署問話。國安處人員詢問眾人有否與鄭文傑聯絡或有金錢往來，他們經問話後獲准離開，無人被捕。
33歲的鄭文傑上月被控涉嫌在2020年8月至2022年6月期間「煽動分裂國家」和「勾結外國或境外勢力」。他身居英國，創辦了英國最大型的海外港人組織「英國港僑協會」（Hongkongers in Britain）。鄭文傑於2019年8月從中國大陸出差返回香港途中，在中國大陸被拘留、毆打並被迫簽署不實供詞，其後逃到英國，並於2020年6月獲得政治庇護。他當時擔任英國駐香港總領事館職員。
鄭文傑的控罪是最新一輪的《國家安全法》通緝令一部分。國安處上月懸紅100萬港元，通緝五名現居英國和美國並在當地倡議民主的海外港人：鄭文傑、邵嵐、許穎婷、霍嘉誌和蔡明達。香港監察曾譴責此舉，並聯同逾80個來自世界各地的香港民間社會和人權組織發表聯合聲明，呼籲各國政府採取行動回應事件。
香港當局於2023年7月首次懸紅通緝八名身處英國、美國和澳洲的流亡海外香港社運人士：羅冠聰、蒙兆達、劉祖廸、郭榮鏗、郭鳯儀、袁弓夷、許智峯和任建峰。2023年7月至9月期間，當局帶走羅冠聰、蒙兆達、郭榮鏗、袁弓夷、郭鳯儀和許智峯的家人問話。
鄭文傑的家人現為當局的目標。兩週前，社運人士周庭的父母亦曾被問話。周庭上月公開宣布流亡加拿大讀書，不會按照保釋條件回港報到。2023年12月，國安處人員搜查居美社運人士許穎婷的家，並向其母親問話。
香港監察促請英國政府重申香港《國安法》不適用於英國，並譴責針對鄭文傑家人的行為。此外，英國政府應敦促志同道合的政府中止民主國家與香港和中國政府的其餘現存引渡條約，並致力協調國際刑警組織預警機制，從而保護香港人及其他海外異見人士。
有見英國外交大臣甘民樂勳爵（Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton）早前譴責香港《國安法》違反《中英聯合聲明》及中國在國際法下的承諾，英國政府亦應審議香港監察於2023年5月透露提交的正式制裁建議書，就香港行政長官李家超在世界各地嚴重侵犯人權的行為，對他施行馬格尼茨基式制裁，包括資產凍結和旅遊禁令。有關建議書得到御用大律師肯尼迪女男爵（Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws）和尼斯爵士（Sir Geoffrey Nice）的支持。
鄭文傑就事件發表聲明稱：
「父親早年游水來港，寄人籬下，住過九龍城寨……我記得父親說過那年看到從香港映照而來的燈火和可樂罐，就下水游去對岸了，九死一生，為了那自由而拼搏的夢想，擺渡在兩個國家強權的間隙之中，一個身無分文的青壯年，扛起了一度分隔中港兩地而破碎的家庭。
我們的位置不同了，在這世度掙扎求存……那破鏡曾經重圓，裂縫仍在，卻又再破裂，我會扛著這責任，為這國和家延續跌宕起伏的命運，而我只盼望雙親能過上有尊嚴、平靜而恬淡的晚年，我們來生再見。」
香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）表示：
「香港當局無權質問三年多前從香港逃亡到英國的勇敢香港社運人士的家人。
事件顯示，香港愈來愈像中國大陸，個人及其家人僅因向政權說出真相，就受到攻擊和質問。英國政府必須立即清楚表示，《國安法》的治外法權在英國並無法律效力，並且明顯違反《中英聯合聲明》。
從質問鄭文傑家人到令人髮指地做騷公審黎智英，香港當局公然威脅香港和海外社運人士的行為完全不能接受。英國必須挺身對抗中國共產黨，並與持續倡議民主、捍衛家園的勇敢朋友站在同一陣線。」