Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor says the 12 Hong Kong people who were intercepted and arrested by Chinese Coast Guard off the coast of China’s Guangdong province last month will be dealt with under mainland law. The 12 Hong Kong youths, some of whom reportedly had been involved in the anti-sending campaign, were sailing from Hong Kong to Taiwan on a speedboat in hopes of seeking political asylum there.
Hong Kong media reported that the 12 are currently detained at the Yantian Detention Center in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. At least three mainland lawyers have been refused permission to meet their clients at the detention center.
Before attending the Executive Council meeting on Tuesday (Sept. 8), Mrs. Lam was asked by the media whether some of the detainees were unable to meet with their lawyers, whether their legal rights were protected, and how the SAR government would follow up. Mrs Lam replied that an agreement had been signed between the SAR government and the mainland two years ago that the SAR government would be notified when Hong Kong people were arrested in the mainland. She said the case is not simply a matter of bringing the people concerned back to Hong Kong, but that the 12 Hong Kong people who were arrested for violating mainland China’s laws will be dealt with under mainland laws.
Mrs Lam said the government has a duty to provide assistance to all citizens arrested outside Hong Kong, and would follow up with the families of the 12 Hong Kong residents if they so request.
Mainland and Hong Kong authorities have not publicly confirmed the identities of the 12 people, but media reports say that one of them is Lee Yu-heun, a member of the Hong Kong NGO “Hong Kong Story” who was arrested by Hong Kong police on August 10 for allegedly violating Hong Kong’s version of the National Security Law. The other arrestee has dual citizenship in Hong Kong and Portugal, Reuters said.
It’s unclear what charges the 12 Hong Kong residents could face, in addition to possible prosecution for crossing the border illegally.
Since the implementation of the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law in July, Hong Kong police have expanded the scope of arrests, targeting those who have participated in protests, spoken out against the Communist Party’s policy of governing Hong Kong, or spoken out in support of democracy in the past, including the founder of Next Media, Li Zhiying, and former Hong Kong Public Opinion member Zhou Ting, and some democracy activists have had to go into exile overseas.
Although the implementation of Hong Kong’s version of the National Security Law has greatly increased the risk of arrests of protesters in Hong Kong, thousands of people risked another demonstration on September 6 to protest the postponement of the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections that were supposed to take place on September 6, as well as the controversial measures that have arisen since the implementation of Hong Kong’s version of the National Security Law.
The demonstration eventually turned into a police-community clash in which 289 people were arrested on various charges, including illegal assembly and alleged assault on police.
A statement made last week by Carrie Lam also raised concerns that it could push Hong Kong down the path to totalitarianism. On September 1, Mrs. Lam said that there is no “separation of powers” in Hong Kong, and that she hoped the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government would “cooperate with each other and exercise mutual checks and balances. She also agreed with and appreciated the remarks made by the Secretary for Education, Mr. Nicholas Yang, that the “separation of powers” should be removed from textbooks.
Mrs Lam’s stance was immediately applauded by the Chinese authorities. On Monday (September 7), both the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Liaison Office) issued news releases on their websites supporting Mrs. Lam’s statement that “there is no separation of powers in Hong Kong” and the decision by the Hong Kong Education Bureau to remove “separation of powers” from textbooks. The news emphasized that all powers in Hong Kong come from the central government. The news also said that it should be stated unequivocally that the statement that “separation of powers” is practiced in the HKSAR is wrong and must be corrected.
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