Two Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates have announced that they have been granted asylum: former lawmaker Ted Hui in Australia and activist Tony Chung in the U.K.
Video: Hong Kong activist Ted Hui on being granted asylum in Australia
Both men were convicted of violating Hong Kong’s restrictive national security law, which has quashed dissent after being imposed by Beijing in 2020 in the wake of massive pro-democracy protests. They are among dozens of activists who have fled Hong Kong authorities.
Hui, a former member of the Legislative Council who left Hong Kong while he was out on bail in 2020, was tried in absentia and given a nearly four-year jail term in 2022. He told RFA at the time that his trial was “a political trial, which was entirely predictable and unsurprising. The real culprits are the tyrannical regime, not those who protest against it.”
Since Hui’s conviction, Hong Kong officials have questioned his relatives, placed a HK$1 million ($128,211 USD) bounty on his capture, and, earlier this year, seized his assets.
Hong Kong’s government did not comment directly on the cases, but a spokesperson said Saturday that “any country that harbors Hong Kong criminals in any form shows contempt for the rule of law, grossly disrespects Hong Kong’s legal systems and barbarically interferes in the affairs of Hong Kong.”
Includes reporting from Agence France-Presse.
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