Exiled HK activists in UK defiant against bounty threat

Supporters of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong will never be silenced by a bounty placed on the heads of eight exiled activists, one of those targeted said in London on Wednesday.

Trade unionist Christopher Mung Siu-tat was speaking in parliament alongside Finn Lau, who demanded that the UK government take the threat seriously.

Both were named on the bounty list announced by Hong Kong's China-backed leader John Lee, who ordered the eight to return to the former British colony or "spend their days in fear".

But Mung, who fled to Britain in 2021, vowed to continue his work "for the rest of my life".

China's intention is to "extend their hands overseas" and "spread fear outside of Hong Kong", he told reporters.

"I don't think they will succeed. They can never eliminate the voice of the Hong Kong people."

Lau also expressed defiance, while acknowledging that "I don't feel safe to be in the UK because of that bounty and the threats coming from the Chinese Communist Party."

He demanded a meeting with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, saying the interior minister had not responded to his previous requests.

Hong Kong police offered rewards of HK$1 million ($128,000) each on Monday for information leading to the arrests of the eight prominent democracy activists living abroad.

They were accused of crimes including subversion and colluding with foreign forces.

All eight fled Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a sweeping security law on the financial hub in 2020 to quell dissent after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests.

The governments of Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States all protested the threat made to people now living on their soil.

Britain will "not tolerate any attempts by China to intimidate and silence individuals in the UK and overseas", Cleverly said Monday.