US says Hong Kong bounties for 6 activists threaten its sovereignty
The US State Department has condemned Hong Kong authorities for placing bounties on six more activists and revoking the passports of seven others, calling the moves “a form of transnational repression that threatens US sovereignty”.
The statement was issued on Thursday, two days after Hong Kong police issued HK$1 million (US$128,690) bounties for the additional activists for allegedly violating the Beijing-imposed national security law, bringing the total number of fugitives to 19.
The passports of the other seven who left the city were revoked in a separate notice gazetted on Tuesday, which also barred anyone in Hong Kong from funding them. It was the second such notice issued under the city’s domestic security law enacted in March.
Noting that some of those activists were based in the United States, the State Department said it rejected the Hong Kong government’s efforts to “intimidate and silence” individuals who choose to make America their home.
“The extraterritorial application of Hong Kong’s national security laws is a form of transnational repression that threatens US sovereignty and the human rights and fundamental freedoms of people all over the world,” a spokesman for the department said.
“These actions demonstrate Hong Kong authorities’ disregard for international norms and the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”