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Family members of six of the Hongkongers detained in Shenzhen after being arrested at sea meet with the media on Saturday. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong rules out intervening in case of 12 arrested at sea, as detainee’s brother calls China’s labelling of them as separatists ‘ridiculous’

  • Security Secretary John Lee says Hong Kong will ‘not interfere with’ mainland’s prosecution of the 12
  • Younger brother of detainee Tang Kai-yin questions lack of presumption of innocence in radio appearance

Hong Kong’s security minister appeared to rule out intervening on behalf of 12 young activists who were captured at sea last month while allegedly trying to flee for Taiwan, as the brother of one hit back at China’s foreign ministry for labelling them as separatists.

The development came as China’s foreign ministry warned the United States against interfering in Hong Kong affairs days after Washington spoke out over the case of the 12 Hongkongers currently under detention in Shenzhen.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that the police in Shenzhen were investigating the case.

Beijing labels 12 Hongkongers caught at sea as separatists

“The Hong Kong issue is purely China’s internal affairs and no external force can make irresponsible remarks. We urge the US side to abide by related international law and principles of international relations, stop interfering with Hong Kong affairs and stop interfering with China’s domestic affairs,” Wang said during a regular press conference, maintaining that the relevant authorities would protect the legal rights of the suspects.

The diplomatic tensions between two countries deepened over the weekend after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed concerns that the suspects had been “denied access to lawyers of their choice”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying added that the group of young activists – many of them facing charges related to last year’s anti-government protests – were “elements attempting to separate Hong Kong from China” in an online retort to a US State Department official who said the arrests signalled a deterioration of the city’s human rights situation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Sunday said the 12 arrested were “attempting to separate Hong Kong from China”. Photo: AP

The younger brother of Tang Kai-yin, one of the 12, on Monday slammed Hua’s comments as “ridiculous”.

“His case in Hong Kong does not have a judgment yet, how can she be so sure they have broken the law without any other information on hand?” the younger Tang asked on a radio programme.

Critics had feared Hua’s allegation signalled more severe charges would be levelled against those arrested, resulting in higher prison sentences.

Breaking his silence on Monday, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu indirectly dismissed previous appeals by the detainees’ families to seek the return of the 12.

“The Hong Kong government would not want other jurisdictions to intervene in our own law enforcement, so we would respect, and not interfere with others’,” Lee wrote on his blog on Monday.

But he said the city’s police force would continue to keep an eye on developments in the cases, while the Immigration Department would keep in contact with the arrestees’ families and follow up.

The saga erupted last month when the China Coast Guard arrested the 12 Hong Kong residents in mainland waters as they allegedly attempted to reach Taiwan to seek political asylum.

US-China row over detention of 12 Hongkongers in Shenzhen escalates

The 11 men and one woman, aged 16 to 33, were subsequently placed under criminal detention by the Yantian office of the Shenzhen public security bureau on suspicion of crossing the border illegally.

At least one had previously been arrested under Hong Kong’s new national security law, while some had been charged with offences related to last year’s anti-government protests.

Family members of the detained jointly made an emotional appeal on Saturday, urging the Hong Kong government to bring them back.

They lamented the fact that the mainland lawyers they had hired were being denied access to their clients, with the Shenzhen authorities telling them they were already represented by legal counsel.

A mainland source familiar with the situation said that officials from the Bureau of Justice had once again attempted to persuade a lawyer hired by the family of one Hong Kong detainee to quit the case on Monday morning.

“[The lawyer] decided not to give up at this stage,” the source said, adding the lawyer planned to visit the detention centre in Shenzhen again in the company of local police.

Lawyer says mainland China prosecutors refused to handle complaint over client access

So far, at least four lawyers representing the detainees have been asked to walk away from the cases.

On Monday, student unions at 12 local universities and colleges also issued a joint statement, saying Hua’s allegation had violated the common law principle of presumption of innocence.

They urged the authorities to ensure the basic human rights of the 12 detainees – who include a student from the University of Hong Kong and a former student at the Open University – and to secure their return to Hong Kong, while also gaining access for their family-appointed lawyers.

President of the HKU student union Edy Jeh Tsz-lam said there was little the student union or the university could do, as the matter had gone beyond the institution’s control, while a university spokesman said it had been “in contact with the student’s family and will provide assistance where necessary”.

Localist lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, who has been assisting the detainees’ families, said Hua was trying to put political labels on the detained Hongkongers.

“It seems very likely they will become a propaganda tool, and Hua Chunying’s tweet makes our concerns that they will be forced to make confessions very real,” he said.

Hongkonger detained on mainland needs medication for depression, lawyer says

But several pro-establishment figures had said on Monday that the 12 Hongkongers would need to serve their sentence on the mainland if they had breached any laws across the border.

Executive Council member Ronny Tong Ka-wah, also a senior counsel, argued the Hong Kong administration had no power to request the return of the 12 Hongkongers. But he believed it would be highly unlikely that mainland authorities would charge the 12 for breaching national security offences, as most of them had not violated the Hong Kong version of the law.

Tam Yiu-chung, the city’s sole delegate to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, said Hua’s remarks came only after the US had extended its long arm in an attempt to control “everything”.

He said he believed the 12 Hongkongers would be able to return to the city after serving their sentences on the mainland if they were prosecuted and convicted.

Tam also urged critics not to casually criticise the mainland’s judicial system and laws, saying authorities there would handle the incident via established rules and procedure. “Please don’t replace facts with speculation,” he said.

The Hong Kong government earlier acknowledged they had received requests for help from the families of 11 of the arrestees, and said that all 12 were in good health.

Additional reporting by Jack Lau and Zoe Low

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: families of 12 held at sea fear for justice
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