Hong Kong police arrested four men on Wednesday for allegedly supporting people living abroad who “endanger national security”, according to a statement.
The arrests came two days after authorities announced million-dollar bounties for the capture of eight prominent pro-democracy activists living overseas.
The eight include former pro-democracy lawmakers, activists and a unionist. They were put on a wanted list by Hong Kong police over various alleged national security crimes, sparking an international outcry.
The four men arrested Wednesday were accused of profiting from operating companies, social platforms and mobile applications to “support people who have fled overseas and continue to engage in activities that endanger national security”, the police statement said.
Authorities on Monday offered a HK$1 million (US$127,800) reward for each of the eight activists abroad to anyone providing information leading to their arrest or prosecution.
The bounties have been criticised by the United States, Britain and Australia, countries where the wanted activists reportedly reside.
On Wednesday, the four men aged 26 to 28 were arrested by national security officials over suspicion of “conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security” and “conspiracy to doing acts with seditious intent”, the police statement said.
The collusion offence carries a sentence of up to life in prison under the sweeping national security law Beijing imposed on the financial hub in 2020 to quell dissent.
They also allegedly published “seditious” social media posts to provoke hatred against the authorities and advocate for Hong Kong independence.
Police had said they would investigate connections of the eight abroad in order to find their allies and funders, and city leader John Lee has called on the activists to turn themselves in.
According to photos published by local newspaper Ming Pao, police escorted Ivan Lam — a former chairperson of disbanded political party Demosisto — out of an industrial building after searching it on Wednesday evening.
Demosisto was co-founded by one of the eight wanted activists Nathan Law, as well as jailed activist Joshua Wong and former activist Agnes Chow.
Officers were also photographed seizing banners and flags of an online shopping app called “Mee”.
The app was created in 2020 to share discounts and information about “yellow businesses”, which consist of restaurants, shops and service providers that support democracy in Hong Kong.
According to public records, the company behind the app has former and current directors whose names are the same as two former Demosisto members.
Hong Kong’s national security law — enacted after massive and at times violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 — has led to the shutdown of scores of civil society groups, opposition parties and pro-democracy outlets.
Police have so far arrested 260 people on national security grounds.
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