Hong Kong police bail Catholic cardinal arrested on national security charge

HONG KONG — Cardinal Joseph Zen, one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia, and three others who helped run a now-disbanded Hong Kong fund for protesters were arrested by on charges of “collusion with foreign forces,” and later released on bail.

Zen, a 90-year-old former bishop of Hong Kong, was questioned for several hours on Wednesday at the Chai Wan Police Station close his church residence, before being released on police bail. The silver-haired Zen, wearing a white clerical collar, left without making any comment to the media.

Local police said in a statement that the national security department of the police force had arrested two men and two women, ranging from 45 to 90 years old for “collusion with foreign forces” on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Police said they were suspected of asking for foreign sanctions. All were released on bail with their passports confiscated under the national security law, police said.

A legal source familiar with the matter had earlier told Reuters that five people had been arrested in connection with the case: Zen; senior barrister Margaret Ng, 74; activist and pop singer Denise Ho; former lawmaker Cyd Ho; and former academic Hui Po-keung.

Zen has long been an advocate of democratic causes in Hong Kong and mainland China, and has spoken out against China’s growing authoritarianism under President Xi Jinping, including a Beijing-imposed national security law, and the persecution of some Roman Catholics in China.

Hui had been arrested at the airport on Tuesday night, according to media reports.