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Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said the eight activists had a choice between handing themselves in to authorities or “living in fear”.
Prominent dissidents have fled abroad in recent years and police on Monday offered tips for information leading to their arrest.
Pro-democracy supporters are accused of, among other things, conspiring with foreign powers. This is the first time that tip money has been used in cases based on the National Security Act. Pro-Chinese Lee says the public can help police in the search, and family and friends of activists can become informants.
120,000 euro tip money
Police in Hong Kong, a special region within China, offer a tip of nearly 120,000 euros per arrest. All eight Hong Kongers have fled to countries including the US, UK and Australia. Those countries have criticized tip payments. Like the Netherlands, they had previously suspended their extradition treaty with Hong Kong after introducing controversial security legislation.
They say the law was brought in by Chinese authorities three years ago to end protests in Hong Kong. Some demonstrations ended in violent clashes with the police. Critics say the law is being used to silence Beijing’s opponents. Prominent Hong Kong activists are then in jail or abroad.
British Colony
Hong Kong was a British colony for a long time and was handed over to China by the United Kingdom in 1997. The special status for Hong Kong, also known as the ‘one country, two systems’ policy, was agreed for the next 50 years, giving its citizens more rights than the rest of China. But that situation has changed due to the Security Act. Beijing’s influence in Hong Kong has grown over the years.
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