National security law: Hong Kong police seek activist Nathan Law and 5 others for inciting secession and collusion, insider says
- Law and others deny charges, which would be first issued against individuals outside Hong Kong
- Even if those charged are not extradited to Hong Kong, ‘the move can help send a high-profile message to them or others’, a police source says
Six people, including activist Nathan Law Kwun-chung and former British consulate employee Simon Cheng Man-kit, are being sought by Hong Kong police on suspicion of breaking the new national security law, the South China Morning Post has learned.
The pair, who along with two others – activists Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Lau Hong – currently in Britain, have been accused of inciting secession and collusion with foreign and external forces to endanger national security, according to a police source.
This would be the first time Hong Kong police invoked the extraterritorial provision under the sweeping law imposed by Beijing a month ago.
Responding to the news, Nathan Law said he would cut off ties with his family.
“I stress that all overseas advocacy work has been done in my personal capacity, without any political connection with other individuals,” Law said in a statement. “Since I left Hong Kong, I have not been in contact with my family members. I hereby cut off relationship and future contact with them.”
05:50
What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong
“I’m completely clueless to what offences I might have committed. At the end of the day, maybe the answer is: I love Hong Kong too much.”