Hong Kong arrests six for sedition under new security law
HONG KONG (Reuters) — Hong Kong national security police arrested six people across the city on Tuesday under a new security law for alleged seditious intent, including a pro-democracy barrister already behind bars.
Security Secretary Chris Tang told reporters the six were suspected of using a Facebook page to “advocate hatred” against the governments in Hong Kong and China, which took back control of the former British colony in 1997, and against the judiciary.
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He said one of those arrested was Chow Hang-tung, a prominent barrister and pro-democracy activist who has been detained since September 2021 at a maximum security women’s prison.
These were the first arrests under a new batch of national security laws that were passed by the city’s pro-Beijing legislature in March despite international criticism by countries including the U.S. that they could damage Hong Kong’s international financial hub credentials.
The arrests come despite criticism that an ongoing crackdown since 2020 that has silenced dissent and shut down liberal media outlets and NGOs has sapped Hong Kong’s dynamism and hurt the city’s economic prospects.
The Hong Kong and Chinese governments say the national security legislation has restored stability to the city after months of sometimes violent pro-democracy street protests in 2019.
