Hong Kong vows to pursue self-exiled activist Agnes Chow, leader says police ‘leniency’ resulted in ‘deception’
Hong Kong Free Press
The Hong Kong government has vowed to pursue pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, after she announced she would remain in Canada and not return to the city despite bail conditions.
Speaking to reporters during a regular press conference on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee said Hong Kong police had tried to “afford leniency” to Chow by allowing her to study in Toronto while on bail under the national security law. But the attempt to give lenient treatment to the activist ended in “complete deception,” he said.
“I believe those involved who tried to afford leniency must find this utterly disappointing,” Lee said, adding that fugitives would be “pursued for life unless they turn themselves in.”
Chow had been on on police bail since being apprehended in August 2020 alongside pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces, an offence under the national security law. She had not been officially charged.
Known for her involvement in Hong Kong’s student-led protest movements, the activist stayed under the radar after her release from prison in June 2021. She spent around 10 months behind bars over her role in an unauthorised assembly outside the police headquarters during the 2019 anti-extradition bill unrest.
Chow broke her silence on Sunday, her 27th birthday, and revealed on Instagram that she had moved to Toronto to study a master’s degree at a university and had decided not to return to Hong Kong.
‘Flagrant disregard’
Following condemnation by the police’s National Security Department, the government vowed on Monday that it would “spare no effort in bringing [Chow] to justice.” Chow’s decision to jump bail showed that she never “soberly reflected on her acts,” the government said.
“Chow Ting’s flagrant disregard for police bail terms showed that she is completely devoid of integrity… no matter what excuses she put forward or how she attempted to deceive and win sympathy, her hypocrisy, disgrace and disregard for law and order are laid bare,” the government statement read.
The chief executive at the Tuesday press conference that some Hongkongers still underestimated the threat that foreign forces posed to national security. Those “foreign agents” continuously interfered with Hong Kong’s affairs for their personal political interests, he said.
Lee added the government must push forward with the enactment of Article 23 of the Basic Law and complete it within 2024. The legislation, which stipulates that the government shall enact laws on its own to prohibit acts of treason, secession, sedition and subversion against Beijing, could “link up” with the national security law and form a “solid” mechanism to enhance the safeguarding of national security, he said.
Attempts to legislate Article 23 in 2003 failed following mass protests. Successive administrations said they had no timetable for restarting legislative work until the lead-up to Beijing’s imposition of its own security law in 2020, when Lam said it was “disappointing” that Article 23 had not been passed 23 years after Hong Kong was returned to China.
The security law inserted by Beijing into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 targeted subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure.
The move gave police sweeping new powers, led to hundreds of convictions amid new legal precedents, whilst dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs, despite an overall rise in crime.
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