Just How Far Will Beijing Go to Hunt Down Overseas Dissidents?

By Kevin Andrews

The revelation that Hong Kong police have placed a bounty on eight people, including two Australians, is further confirmation of the authoritarian intent of the Chinese regime since absorbing the former British colony into China.

The Hong Kong police announced a bounty of HK$1 million (US$127,627) for the arrest of eight people, including three former legislators.

The eight include Australian residents, Kevin Yam, a lawyer, and former Hong Kong MP, Ted Hui. Mr. Hui sought political asylum in Australia in 2021 and is applying for permanent residency.

Two other former MPs, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Kwok Wing-hang, unionist Mung Siu-tat, and activists Finn Lau Cho-dik, Anna Kwok Fung-yee, and Elmer Yuen Gong-yi are also on the list. The bounties follow the issue of arrest warrants under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security law. Introduced at the instruction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2020, the vague and sweeping laws claim extra-territoriality over Hong Kong citizens.

Hong Kong Police Chief Superintendent Steven Li Kwai-wah said that his force "won’t stop chasing" the eight people.

Unsurprisingly, the Office of National Security of the government fully supported the police. According to a report in the CCP mouthpiece, Global Times, the office emphasised that "overseas regions are not lands beyond the law" [of Hong Kong].

"Anyone who violates the National Security Law for Hong Kong or commits relevant criminal acts anywhere must be prosecuted and punished by the law," according to the office.

Mafia-Style Intimidation

Coupled with the discovery of Chinese "police stations" in many parts of the world and the work of the regime’s overseas United Work Front, the latest action represents a threat to critics of the communist regime everywhere.

Australian Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong was correct to rebuff the CCP’s bullying. "We have strong laws in relation to foreign interference. Our position on this is unequivocal," she said.