🇭🇰 Hong Kong Escalates Pursuit of Exiled Activists with New Sanctions, Passport Cancellations

 

Authorities in Hong Kong have intensified measures against 16 overseas-based dissidents, revoking travel documents and imposing harsh restrictions on economic ties in a sweeping crackdown on political opposition.

Zig Diaries World News
Date: Monday, 4th August 2025
Time: 12:00 WAT
Location: 📍Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Security Bureau has invoked new legal tools under the national security law to target exiled critics accused of subversion.

Hong Kong authorities have expanded punitive measures against 16 political activists living abroad, implementing a ban on financial support and canceling passports for most of them as part of an intensifying campaign under the city’s national security law.

The move follows arrest warrants issued in July accusing the individuals of subversion through their affiliation with the Hong Kong Parliament—a self-declared exile group described by police as a “subversive organization.”

Among those named in the latest crackdown are U.S. citizen Gong Sasha, Australian academic Chongyi Feng, as well as activists Victor Ho and Keung Ka-wai. These individuals are now banned from receiving any funds or economic resources, according to a government statement issued on Monday.

Secretary for Security, Chris Tang said the penalties were necessary to prevent the "continued harm" caused by fugitives engaging in activities that endanger China's sovereignty and Hong Kong's stability.

Twelve of the sixteen targeted activists, all holders of Hong Kong passports, have had their travel documents invalidated. Authorities also barred any person or entity in Hong Kong from leasing property to the individuals, entering joint ventures with them, or providing any material support.

Violators of the new restrictions face up to seven years in prison under the security law.

This is the second wave of such legal sanctions. Three of the 19 activists originally named had already faced similar punitive measures as early as 2023.

Human rights groups have condemned the ongoing campaign as a method to silence dissent beyond Hong Kong’s borders and exert fear among diaspora communities.

🏷️Tags: Hong Kong, National Security Law, Exiled Activists, Chris Tang

#HongKong #NationalSecurityLaw #HumanRights #AsiaWatch #ZigWorldNews