11 arrested over activists’ attempted Taiwan escape

HONG KONG » Hong Kong’s national security police on Thursday arrested 11 people for allegedly helping a group of activists attempt to flee the city by boat to Taiwan, according to social media posts and friends of those detained, expanding the dragnet around those connected with the democracy movement. The group of activists, known as the Hong Kong 12, were captured by Chinese authorities at sea in August and held incommunicado for months; 10 were sentenced in December by a Chinese court to prison terms of between seven months and three years. The other two, both minors at the time of their attempted escape, were returned to Hong Kong and remain in custody.