Hong Kong national security law: police arrest 4 ex-members of defunct opposition party Demosisto for ‘yellow-circle’ fundraising
- Suspects are ex-Demosisto leader Ivan Lam and three former members, William Liu, Li Kai-ching and Arnold Chung, sources say
- Demosisto disbanded on June 30, 2020, as Beijing imposed national security law in Hong Kong
Hong Kong national security police have arrested a former leader and three members of the now-defunct political party Demosisto for allegedly conspiring to raise funds from opposition-friendly businesses to support “anti-China” activities overseas, the Post has learned.
Sources close to the group said the arrests on Wednesday were linked to the four’s involvement in collecting funds on behalf of former party chairman Nathan Law Kwun-chung, who is now self-exiled in Britain and among eight people with HK$1 million (US$127,700) bounties on their head for alleged national security offences.
The four suspects were ex-Demosisto leader Ivan Lam Long-yin and three former members, William Liu Wai-lim, Li Kai-ching and Arnold Chung Chin-ku, sources told the Post.
One insider familiar with the case said officers from the force’s National Security Department raided an industrial unit on Wing Kin Road in Kwai Chung and took the suspects into custody. Lam was seen being escorted by plain clothes officers in handcuffs and taken to an unmarked police car.
Without naming the suspects, police said they had arrested four people, aged 26 to 28, for allegedly conspiring to collude with a foreign country or external forces and commit acts with seditious intent.
“Investigation revealed that the arrested persons were suspected of receiving funds from operating companies, social media platforms and mobile applications to support people who have fled overseas and continue to engage in activities that endanger national security,” the force said.
“They were also suspected of repeatedly publishing posts with seditious intention on social media platforms, including content which provoked hatred towards the central authorities and the [Hong Kong government] and advocated ‘Hong Kong independence’.”
The four were being detained for further inquiries, and additional arrests could not be ruled out, it added
Li is the director of a company that runs an app called Mee, which is associated with shops that are part of a so-called yellow economic circle, a loose business coalition that had backed the city’s 2019 anti-government protests. The app also offers group purchases of festive delicacies, such as mooncakes and rice dumplings.
“They allegedly conspired with shops in the yellow economic circle to raise funds [in the city] to support anti-China activities overseas run by the Demosisto’s former chairman Nathan Law, endangering national security,” he said.
According to the app’s Facebook and Instagram, it had recently expanded to Taiwan and began featuring restaurants operated by Hongkongers, such as bars, street stalls and bakeries.
Demosisto was founded by Law and student activists Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Agnes Chow Ting in 2016, with its original manifesto calling for Hong Kong’s self-determination. The same year, Law ran for a seat in the Hong Kong Island geographical constituency during the Legislative Council election and won.
But he was later disqualified along with three other opposition lawmakers for failing to sincerely take their oaths of office during the swearing-in ceremony.
Lam was sentenced to seven months in jail for trying to besiege police headquarters in Wan Chai during the anti-government protests. He was released in 2021.
The Post reported on Tuesday the eight fugitives were among dozens of Hongkongers placed on a wanted list for suspected violations of the national security law, including people who were allegedly involved in crowdfunding drives.
Another source said Law was one of those who was involved in a crowdfunding campaign.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung on Tuesday called Law a “modern-day traitor”, hours after the activist denied the allegations of collusion and called on police to share their evidence. Tang accused the former student leader of exploiting young protesters for his own gain, and challenged Law to leave the United Kingdom and return to the city to stand trial.
The seven others with a price on their heads are former lawmakers Dennis Kwok Wing-hang and Ted Hui Chi-fung, trade unionist Mung Siu-tat, lawyer Kevin Yam Kin-fung, and activists Finn Lau Cho-dik, Anna Kwok Fung-yee and Elmer Yuan Gong-yi.
According to the force, seven of the eight had called for international sanctions against Hong Kong.
As of July 3, national security police had arrested 260 people aged 15 to 90 since the law came into force. Police said 161 people and five companies had been charged.
Executive Councillor Ronny Tong Ka-wah, also a senior counsel, would not comment on individual cases, but said: “The crux of the matter is whether you have channelled the proceeds from the operation of your business to some activities that are in breach of the law.
“It is not about whether you have set up an online shopping platform or not. If you use the money to fund illegal activities, no matter if you do it through a shopping platform, or an electronic payment channel, you could be held responsible.”
He also stressed the suspects’ ties to Demosisto should be irrelevant in the case.
“I do not think that someone will be targeted because he is linked with a particular political group,” he said.
The national security law ban acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, while sedition is an offence under the Crimes Ordinance.
