HONG KONG (AP) — One of Hong Kong’s best-known pro-democracy activists who moved to Canada to pursue her studies says she will not return to the city to fulfill her bail conditions, becoming the latest politician to flee Hong Kong under the rule of law. Beijing’s repression of dissidents.
Agnes Chow, a famous young face in the city’s vibrant pro-democracy movement, was He was arrested in 2020 Under a Beijing-imposed national security law enacted in the wake of anti-government protests in 2019. She was released on bail, but also spent more than six months in prison in a separate case related to her role in the protests.
After Chow Kan He was released from prison In 2021, she had to report regularly to the police. She said in a post on Instagram on Sunday evening that the pressure caused her “mental illnesses” and influenced her decision not to return to the city.
Many of her peers have been imprisoned, arrested, forced into self-exile or silenced following the implementation of the security law in 2020.
The suppression of the city’s pro-democracy movement highlights that the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to China in 1997 have been significantly eroded. Both Beijing and Hong Kong praised the security law as it restored stability to the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Zhao said that in July, authorities offered to return her passport so she could continue her studies in Canada on the condition that she travel with them to mainland China. She said she agreed, and her August trip included a visit to an exhibition on China’s achievements and the headquarters of tech giant Tencent. The authorities later returned her passport.
After considering the situation in Hong Kong and her safety and health, Chow said she “probably will not return” to the city again.
“I don’t want to be forced to do things I don’t want to do anymore and be forced to visit mainland China again. If this continues, my body and mind will collapse even though I am safe,” she wrote.
Zhao told TV Tokyo on Monday that she was still considering her next steps, including the option of seeking asylum in Canada, the station reported. Tokyo TV said in response to a question about whether she would engage in political activity there, she said she wanted to do something for the benefit of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong police on Monday “strongly” condemned Chow’s move, without naming her, saying it “goes against and defies the rule of law.”
“The police urge the woman to return immediately before it is too late and not to choose the path of no return. “Otherwise, she will bear the stigma of being a runaway for the rest of her life,” the police said in a statement.
Police did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about Zhao’s trip to mainland China.
Asked about Zhao’s case at a daily press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Hong Kong is a law-based society and no one has privilege outside the law. He added that any illegal actions will be punished.
Chow rose to fame with other prominent youth activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law as a student leader, including in pro-democracy protests in 2014.
She co-founded the now-defunct pro-democracy party Demosisto with Wong and Lu, but the party Solved On June 30, 2020, the same day the security law was issued.
Wong is now in custody facing a vandalism charge that could result in life imprisonment if convicted. Low fled to Britain and police in July offered a reward of HK$1 million ($127,600) for information leading to his arrest.
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