The Hong Kong national security police on Tuesday arrested six people for alleged seditious intent under a new security law. The group includes five women and one man.
According to Security Secretary Chris Tang, the individuals allegedly used Facebook to promote “hatred” against the judiciary and governments of Hong Kong and China.
Tang stated that Chow Hang-tung was one of the individuals arrested, and the Facebook group the “Chow Hang-tung Club,” is focused on her work. Chow is a well-known lawyer and pro-democracy activist. Since September of 2021, she has been behind bars in a maximum-security women’s prison.
In March, Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing legislature passed the new national security measure, “Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.” The decision came with criticism from countries including the United States, which stated that the laws could negatively impact Hong Kong’s international financial hub credentials. Countries in the European Union, Japan, and Britain have been critical of the law.
An ongoing crackdown since 2020 has quieted dissenting parties, closed liberal media outlets, shut down NGOs, and hurt the city’s economy. The crackdown comes after a series of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests throughout the streets that occurred in 2019. The governments of Hong Kong and China have said that the new laws have restored stability.
This week, Hong Kong’s high court will issue a verdict in the case of 16 prominent Hong Kong democrats, who may be jailed for allegedly plotting against the government.
Hong Kong Security Secretary Tang’s statement said that Chow allegedly used the five other individuals to "publish posts with seditious intent" focused on an "upcoming sensitive date” and that the group had the "intention of inciting netizens to organize or participate in illegal activities in a later period." The sensitive date may be June 4, according to local media, the anniversary of the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in China in 1989.
Tuesday's arrests appeared "to showcase that any public -- including online -- discussion or opinions... could be deemed seditious or endangering national security," said Eric Lai, a legal scholar at Georgetown University.