Joshua Wong arrested for ‘subversion’
Activist joins dozens held under new law
HONG KONG: Jailed dissident Joshua Wong yesterday joined the ranks of Hong Kong democracy figures arrested under a new security law as the United States threatened fresh sanctions in response to Beijing’s mounting crackdown in the finance hub.
More than 1,000 police officers detained 53 prominent figures — including a US citizen — in dawn raids on Wednesday on charges of “subversion”, a new national security crime that carries up to life in prison.
The sweep was the latest salvo in Beijing’s battle to stamp out dissent in the semi-autonomous city after millions hit the streets in 2019 with huge and sometimes violent democracy protests.
A senior police source said that Mr Wong — who is currently behind bars — was arrested on a new charge of subversion, the first time he has been detained under the national security law.
The 24-year-old is one of the city’s most recognisable democracy advocates and is currently serving a sentence for his role in organising democracy protests.
Mr Wong’s Facebook account later posted a statement saying he was being questioned on suspicion of violating the security law.
Local media reported Tam Tak-chi, another activist currently in custody on a sedition charge, was also arrested for subversion yesterday morning.
Western nations have accused Beijing of using its crackdown to shred the freedoms that were promised under the “One Country, Two Systems” setup when the former British colony was returned to China.
The alleged offence of those arrested for subversion was to organise an unofficial primary last summer to decide who would stand as candidates for the city’s partially-elected legislature in the hopes they might take a majority for the first time.
Many of those candidates were ultimately disqualified from standing and authorities scrapped the election because of the coronavirus.
But Chinese and Hong Kong officials have labelled the primary as an attempt to “overthrow” and “paralyse” the city’s government and therefore a threat to national security. Analysts said it was a new watershed moment for the semi-autonomous city.
“Very clearly and unequivocally it demonstrates the Chinese government’s control over Hong Kong,” Dylan Loh, an expert on China’s politics at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said.