Hong Kong activist granted political asylum by Sweden in security law first for EU

Narayan Liu risks arrest in Hong Kong for activities ‘in breach of the national security law’, Swedish ruling made in April states

It is believed to be the first asylum award for a Hongkonger in the EU to explicitly cite the national security law

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Narayan Liu received his residency documents this month following an April ruling. Photo: Twitter

Published: 2:10pm, 26 Jun 2022Updated: 4:55pm, 26 Jun 2022

Corrected [4:51pm, 26 Jun, 2022]

[4:51pm, 26 Jun, 2022]
An earlier version of this story mentioned that Liu founded several groups including Bauhinias for Freedom and Free Hong Kong. This has been corrected to state that he founded Bauhinias for Freedom and Befria Hong Kong.

Sweden has granted political asylum to a Hong Kong journalist and activist, ruling that he would otherwise “risk arrest” in the city for activities that would be “considered in breach of the national security law”.

The Swedish Migration Agency made the ruling in April, but Narayan Liu, who was born in Taiwan but raised in Hong Kong, is now going public with the news – having received his residency documents this month.

It is believed to be the first asylum award for a Hongkonger in the European Union to explicitly cite the national security law, which Beijing rolled out in June 2020.

“When returning to Hong Kong, you risk arrest as the activities you have undertaken would be considered in breach of the national security law,” read a 10-page award, seen by the South China Morning Post.

The news was first reported by Kinamedia, a Swedish online news outlet.

Swedish authorities judged that Liu’s overseas campaigning for Hong Kong’s democracy movement would be considered a breach of the law, which has seen more than 180 political opponents, journalists and activists jailed in the city in the past two years.