Hong Kong national security police have taken two employees of a polling organisation in for questioning to assist with an investigation, local media have reported.
The office of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute in Wong Chuk Hang. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
The two staff members of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) were taken by police on Thursday to “assist with an investigation,” local media reported.
It followed a series of police interrogations involving people linked to PORI’s former deputy CEO Chung Kim-wah. National security police brought Chung’s wife and son in for questioning on January 14, and, on Wednesday, his three siblings.
On January 13, officer searched the home of PORI’s CEO Robert Chung, who they said was under investigation over assisting a “wanted person who has absconded overseas.” Police also searched the PORI office on the same day but made no arrests.
Chung Kim-wah, who left for the UK in April 2022, was among six overseas Hongkongers added to a wanted list last December over allegedly violating a Beijing-imposed security law. Police have issued a HK$1 million bounty for information leading to each of their arrests.
The 65-year-old has been accused of inciting secession and colluding with foreign forces. According to his wanted notice, he had “repeatedly advocated” Hong Kong independence on social media and requested foreign countries to impose sanctions against China and the city.
Chung Kim-wah. File photo: Supplied.
To date, Hong Kong national security police have issued arrest warrants for 19 overseas Hongkongers on suspicion of committing national security offences. They include three ex-lawmakers – Ted Hui, Dennis Kwok and Nathan Law – as well as activist Tony Chung, who completed a jail term for secession under the national security law before going to the UK in late 2023.
Following the issue of arrest warrants, police have typically taken their relatives who are still in Hong Kong in for questioning, though no family members have been arrested to date.
