Latest news with #NathanLaw
MTV Lebanon
26-07-2025
- Politics
- MTV Lebanon
UK condemns Hong Kong cash offer for help in arresting activists
The UK has condemned the latest cash offer from Hong Kong authorities for people who help in the arrest of pro-democracy activists living in Britain. In a joint statement, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the move as "another example of transnational repression". People are being offered between $25,000 (HK$200,000) and $125,000 for information leading to the arrest of 19 individuals, all of whom are pro-democracy activists living abroad. China has denounced as "interference" criticism over this type of appeal, which it has made three times previously. The 19 people are accused of violating Beijing's national security law imposed in 2020 in response to the 2019 anti-government protests that rocked the city for months. The amounts on offer vary depending on the individual. Among the highest offers on the list are those for Choi Ming-da and Fok Ka-chi, who Hong Kong police said operated a social media channel named "Tuesdayroad". Politician Nathan Law – who had been a lawmaker on the Legislative Council of Hong Kong – and activist and commentator Yuan Gong-Yi also appear on the lists. The first such rewards were issued in July and December 2023. They targeted Nathan Law - who told the BBC that his life became more dangerous after a bounty was announced - and Simon Cheng, a former UK consulate employee detained in 2019 in a high-profile case. The third series of rewards targeted six pro-democracy activists living in the UK and Canada, including Tony Chung, the former leader of a pro-independence group. A special visa scheme introduced in 2021 saw around 150,000 Hong Kong residents move to the UK, according to the Home Office. In November last year a Hong Kong court sentenced dozens of pro-democracy leaders to years in jail for subversion, following a controversial national security trial. In their statement in response to the latest bounty, Ms Cooper and Mr Lammy said "this government will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong, including those who have made the UK their home. We take the protection of their rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously." Their joint statement added: "The UK is committed to human rights, the rule of law, and the safety of all individuals in the UK. That's why we have taken further steps to complete the severing of ties between the UK and Hong Kong extradition systems by removing Hong Kong from the Extradition Act 2003."
Sustainability Times
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Sustainability Times
Nathan Law and the High Cost of Dissent: A Review of Targeted, Episode 3
The conversation between Nathan Law and host Zach Abramowitz is intimate, revealing, and—like Law himself—layered with unresolved tension. You get the sense that Law has lived through more than he says, and says more than he's allowed. Back in 2014, as the Umbrella Revolution surged into global headlines, Law was a university student with an extraordinary capacity to channel collective frustration into purpose. He became a legislative council member in Hong Kong at 23—the youngest in the city's history—and was quickly sentenced to prison for organizing protests. That moment, and the broader crackdown that followed, fractured the illusion of Hong Kong's democratic exceptionalism. But Law's story was just beginning. 'Activists are still human,' Law tells Abramowitz early in the episode. It's a theme that pulses throughout their conversation—the romantic notion of fearless dissidents erodes when you hear Law talk about midnight fears, his mother watching him arrested on live television, and the torment of leaving friends behind in a place that now considers him a national security threat. 'My goal is not for a cozy life,' Law admits. 'My goal is for a meaningful one.' After fleeing to the UK in 2020 under threat of the new National Security Law, Law was granted asylum—but not relief. He details the suffocating sense of survivor's guilt, the isolation of COVID-era exile, and the surveillance campaigns orchestrated from Beijing's outposts in London. At one point, he was placed on a wanted list with a bounty on his head. Authorities raided his family home, interrogated his mother and brother, and fabricated stories to paint him as a foreign agent. It's collective punishment dressed in the language of law enforcement. This episode doesn't just document a man hunted by a government; it exposes how narratives are weaponized. Law has been labeled a CIA puppet by Beijing loyalists, dismissed as a 'useful idiot of the Americans' by Western skeptics, and dragged through the mud without a shred of evidence. The campaign to discredit him operates on the logic that if you can't jail someone, you can try to break their credibility—or at least their will. The Richness Of This Episode Lies In The Tonal Depth Of Law's Reflection. He remains haunted by what he's lost: not just a home, but a future that might have included ordinary joys—staying close to family, building a stable career, living anonymously. 'There are things I can't talk about,' he says of his last contact with family, his tone brushing the edge of heartbreak. For Law, silence is not safety—it's sacrifice. Yet for all its grief, the episode is not grim. Law's clarity is breathtaking. He speaks of friends still imprisoned in Hong Kong—Joshua Wong, Gwyneth Ho—with reverence, not pity. He describes their courtroom bravery as a source of hope. 'Activism,' he says, 'is about people versus power.' This line is the heart of the episode. While authoritarian regimes tighten their grip, this podcast episode insists on the power of memory, voice, and witness. It reminds us that repression may be global, but so is resistance. In keeping with a reflective and narrative-driven style, the episode is also a subtle meditation on legacy. Law brushes off his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and TIME's '100 Most Influential People' with charming understatement. Those accolades, he says, are retrospective flourishes, not motivations. He's more concerned with whether he can still be useful to Hong Kong—whether, when the city is free, he'll have something left to give. That Targeted allows space for such emotional granularity is a credit to its producers. It is not advocacy posing as journalism, nor is it voyeuristic tragedy porn. It is, rather, a reminder that to be targeted is not just to be attacked—but to be misunderstood, misrepresented, and sometimes mythologized. The podcast strips away the myth and leaves us with the man. About The Podcast Targeted is an investigative podcast exploring how powerful states and corporations abuse legal, diplomatic, and media mechanisms to silence whistleblowers, dissidents, and journalists. Hosted by Zach Abramowitz, the series blends intimate interviews with legal and political context, giving listeners a front-row seat to the new age of transnational repression. Future episodes will continue to probe the global dimensions of political targeting: Pavel Ivlev: A former Russian lawyer who blew the whistle on Kremlin corruption and fled to the United States. His story echoes the dangers faced by defectors under Putin's shadow. Gaurav Srivastava: An entrepreneur and philanthropist who found himself the subject of a global smear campaign. With each episode, Targeted peels back another layer of how systems meant to protect justice are being twisted to enforce silence. If the rest of the season is anything like Nathan Law's haunting, hopeful story, we're in for a revelation. Did you like it? 4.5/5 (22)
The Mainichi
07-06-2025
- Politics
- The Mainichi
Hong Kong activist Wong faces new charge of colluding with foreign forces
HONG KONG (Kyodo) -- Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, who has been jailed over a subversion case, was newly charged Friday with "conspiring to collude with foreign forces" under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. The 28-year-old, who was sentenced in November to four years and eight months in prison over an unofficial primary election, allegedly conspired with fellow activist Nathan Law to urge foreign countries to impose sanctions or take other hostile actions against Hong Kong and China between July 1 and Nov. 23, 2020. He was also accused of requesting foreign powers or organizations to "seriously disrupt the formulation and implementation of laws or policies" by mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities. His case was adjourned until Aug. 8. Law is currently in self-imposed exile in Britain. Beijing introduced the national security legislation to the semiautonomous city in 2020 to criminalize activities such as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external elements. The offense of collusion with foreign forces carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The Guardian
07-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Jailed Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong hit with new charges
Jailed pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been hit with further national security charges, a move rights groups said showed the Hong Kong government was trying to keep dissidents behind bars for as long as possible. Wong, a well-known activist who has been in jail for more than four years either awaiting trial or serving sentences, is accused of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country. He appeared in court on Friday to hear the charge and did not apply for bail. Hong Kong's national security police said in a statement they had arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of the offence, as well as for 'dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence'. According to the charge sheet, viewed by Reuters and Hong Kong Free Press, Wong is accused of conspiring with fellow democracy activist Nathan Law, who is in exile overseas, and others to ask foreign countries, institutions, organisations or individuals outside China to impose sanctions or blockades. He is also accused of conspiring to ask foreign parties to 'seriously disrupt the formulation and implementation of laws and policies' in Hong Kong and China, 'which was likely to cause serious consequences', Hong Kong Free Press reported. The charge comes under Hong Kong's national security law, which was imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020 after the 2019 pro-democracy protests brought the city to a standstill. The law has been criticised by foreign governments and rights groups as overly broad and ill-defined, and easily weaponised to crush the opposition by criminalising even benign acts of dissent. The Hong Kong and central Chinese governments reject the criticism and say the law was needed to restore order to the city. Wong is due to be released in January 2027. He is serving protest-related sentences, including a 56-month term for his role among the so-called 'Hong Kong 47' group of politicians, activists, campaigners and community members who held unofficial pre-election primaries in 2020. The cohort were sentenced in November, at the end of Hong Kong's largest national security trial. Just two of the 47 were acquitted. Human Rights Watch's associate China director, Maya Wong, called the new charges against Wong 'arbitrary, cruel and outrageous'. 'While imprisoned under one trumped-up charge, Joshua Wong has been suddenly slapped with yet another as the authorities appear intent on keeping one of Hong Kong's most influential democracy leaders behind bars,' she said. Amnesty International said the new charges could see him given a life sentence if found guilty. 'Hong Kong's national security law is turning five years old at the end of the month, and these new charges against Joshua Wong show that its capacity to be used by the Hong Kong authorities to threaten human rights in the city is as potent and present as ever,' said the organisation's China director, Sarah Brooks. 'Once again, the vague and sweeping offence of 'collusion with foreign forces' is being weaponised to justify an attack on the freedoms of expression and association. 'This latest charge against him underscores the authorities' fear of prominent dissidents and shows the lengths they will go to keep them behind bars for as long as possible – in so doing, continuing a chilling effect on civic activism in the city.' Reuters contributed to this report
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong charged under Beijing-imposed security law for a second time
HONG KONG — Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong on Friday was charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security under a Beijing-imposed law that critics say has crushed Hong Kong's once-thriving pro-democracy movement. The prosecution was the second time Wong has been charged under the sweeping national security law. He was already convicted in a separate subversion case linked to an unofficial primary election and was sentenced last year to four years and eight months in jail for that charge. The prosecution accused Wong, 28, of conspiring with fellow activist Nathan Law and others to ask foreign countries, institutions, organizations or individuals outside of China to impose sanctions or blockades, or engage in other hostile actions, against Hong Kong and China. They also said he disrupted the formulation and implementation of laws and policies by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments, and that the act was likely to have serious consequences. The alleged offences occurred between July 2020 and November 2020. The prosecution didn't elaborate on the accusations in court. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. After hearing the charge in court, Wong, who wore a blue shirt and was visibly thinner, said he 'understood' the charge. The case was adjourned to August. National security police arrested Wong in Stanley prison on Friday on the new national security charge and also on suspicion of 'dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offense,' police said in a statement. Wong rose to prominence in Hong Kong in 2012 as a high school student leading protests against the introduction of national education in the city's schools. Two years later, he became world famous as a leader of the Occupy Movement. In 2016, Wong co-founded a political party named Demosisto with fellow young activists Law and Agnes Chow. In the 2019 pro-democracy movement, Wong helped seek overseas support for the protests. His activism led Beijing to label him an advocate of Hong Kong's independence who 'begged for interference' by foreign forces. Demosisto disbanded when Beijing imposed the security law in 2020. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments said the law brought back stability to the city. In 2023, Hong Kong authorities offered rewards of one million Hong Kong dollars (US$127,600) for information leading to the arrests of Law, who moved to Britain, and several other overseas-based activists. Amnesty International's China Director Sarah Brooks said in a statement that the new prosecution against Wong showed the security law's 'capacity to be used by Hong Kong authorities to threaten human rights in the city is as potent and present as ever.' 'This latest charge against him underscores the authorities' fear of prominent dissidents and shows the lengths they will go to keep them behind bars for as long as possible -- in so doing, continuing a chilling effect on civic activism in the city,' she said, urging the government to drop the charge and cease enforcing the law. Kanis Leung, The Associated Press
