China arrests group reportedly fleeing Hong Kong by sea
The Chinese Coast Guard has intercepted and arrested at least ten people reportedly trying to flee from Hong Kong to Taiwan during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement.
The authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong announced the arrests on social media, revealing that the boat had been stopped by coast guard officials on Sunday.
Local media in Hong Kong, citing unidentified sources, said the passengers were planning to apply for political asylum in Taiwan, a democratically-ruled island some 440 miles from the former British colony.
The South China Morning Post identified one of those on the vessel as Andy Li, who was arrested earlier this month under a sweeping and controversial national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in June, and which can mete out life sentences for subversion.
It was not immediately clear what law those detained from the boat would be charged with violating but, if confirmed, it would be a rare instance of Chinese authorities arresting people from Hong Kong trying to leave the city. They are believed to be currently being held in China.
Chris Tang, the Hong Kong police commissioner, said on Thursday that he could not comment on the case.
“We’re aware of such (a) report but for the time being, we don’t have any information from the Mainland relevant authorities,” he told reporters.
In Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council in charge of relations with China did not confirm the media report, but said those who come to Taiwan via illegal means will face criminal charges.
However, it reiterated the government's pledges to give "humanitarian assistance" to Hong Kong protesters. Taiwan has already opened a new office to make migration easier for Hong Kong residents and companies to settle there.
Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese president, told an online forum at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Thursday that Hong Kong’s situation meant that “Taiwan stands increasingly on the front lines of freedom and democracy.”
Hundreds of Hong Kong citizens have already sought refuge in Taiwan, a democracy of 23 million with its own government, military and foreign policy.
Potentially massive numbers are believed to be planning to join them after the introduction of draconian security legislation to quell months of anti-Beijing protests. The law punishes what China broadly defines as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
However, the passage to Taiwan has been hampered by pandemic public health restrictions and, for some dissidents on government watchlists, the confiscation of their passports, prompting some to take the risk of trying to escape through maritime smuggling routes.
Fears have also risen about shrinking media freedoms following the sudden enactment of the security law. A Hong Kong news website said on Thursday that authorities had rejected a visa for an Irish journalist working there without providing a reason.
Aaron McNicholas, who covered the city's sometimes-violent pro-democracy protests last year for Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), waited almost six months before being told his visa had been denied, the outlet said.
"It seems we have been targeted under the climate of the new security law and because of our impartial and fact-based coverage," HKFP editor-in-chief Tom Grundy said in a statement.
