Hong Kong police arrest four members of Hong Kong pro-independence group

With Beijing’s draconian national security law in power, Hong Kong’s new police unit arrested four student members of a pro-independence group, aged 16 to 21 in a first ever crackdown on anti-government activists.
Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah of the National Security Department under the police force said the group had declared the establishment of a body to promote pro-independence political ideals “using any means possible” and build a “Republic of Hong Kong”.
Studentlocalism was a pro-independence group that was disbanded on June 30, hours before the Beijing-imposed national security law came into effect.
The national security law, which came into effect ahead of July 1, sets up a vast security apparatus in the territory and gives Beijing broad powers to crack down on a variety of political crimes, including separatism and collusion.
The law criminalizes four activities: “secession, subversion, organization and perpetration of terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”.
According to experts, the law is likely to usher in a new era for Hong Kong in which civil liberties are tightly constrained and loyalty to the party is paramount.
Advertisement

Author