The Washington Post reports that police in Hong Kong have begun sending the cell phones of anti-government arrestees to mainland China to extract information from the phones with the help of high-tech technology there. The report also said that a recent operation by Hong Kong police collected more than 200 cell phones and laptops from more than 50 political criminals, and that some websites were shut down as a result.
The report quoted Xu Luowen, an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Chinese University, as saying, “I’m afraid this is a new version of the Great Firewall online on the mainland, they [police] are testing the temperature of the water and the results are a bit mixed, but there’s no doubt it’s just a matter of time.”
The report quoted two people with inside knowledge of the operation as saying that Hong Kong police have begun sending the cell phones of those arrested to mainland China because the information extraction technology there is more advanced and authorities can use the information to help investigate the case.
Kwong, the founder of Keyboard Front, nicknamed “The Mouse Lady,” said the government had made it clear it was going to smash the last free space for dissidents. The government has actually set a precedent by shutting down any website that the government doesn’t like without a reason under the national security law,” Kwong said. This is a clear blow to Internet freedom, freedom of information and freedom of expression.”
The Hong Kong police responded to a Washington Post inquiry by email, saying they generally do not comment on individual cases, but noting that the national security law allows police to unilaterally shut down content online. A police spokesman also said no details would be disclosed about cases under investigation.
The dozens of people arrested in last Wednesday’s police roundup spanned the spectrum of Hong Kong’s democratic camp, including social activists such as labor activists, advocates for the rights of the underprivileged and former lawmakers. Two already imprisoned leaders, Wong Chi-fung and underground radio broadcaster Tam Tak-chi, were “arrested” again.
They were charged with participating in a “primary election” to select a democratic candidate for the Legislative Council. According to the Chinese Communist Party, anyone who participates in a primary election is suspected of violating the law, including the more than 600,000 people who voted. Voting was conducted by secret ballot, and organizers claimed to have destroyed the records afterwards. The police roundup thus targeted only the organizers, the main cadre of the entire Hong Kong pro-democracy camp.
After dozens of arrests and the confiscation of cell phones and laptops, the arrestees and their families and friends began to notice irregularities in their social networking sites and emails, the WaPo reported.
Tan, who is already in prison, told friends he had joined the password-protected Telegram conversation platform, while the owner of Tan’s Facebook page said Tan had not activated his Telegram account for a long time, and urged his friends to ignore the message that Tan had joined Telegram.
Former lawmaker Chan Chi-chuen, who was arrested at his home, said that since his arrest he has been receiving messages on his phone from Telegram asking for confirmation of his password, which allows users to access the platform only after the password is confirmed.
In addition, two former lawmakers from the Democratic Party, Lam Cheuk Ting and Wong Pik Wan, both said their colleagues received a notification from Google that a national-level hacker was attempting to breach their work accounts. Their accounts were hosted on Google’s email service server. All this happened after they were arrested and after their cell phones and communication electronics fell into the hands of the police.
They are spreading the net and collecting information in every way possible,” Lam told WaPo. If they find incriminating evidence against us, they will keep digging.”
Recent Comments