National security law: police warn of consequences after Hong Kong group behind annual Tiananmen Square vigil declines to comply with information request
- Force ‘setting a very bad precedent’ in failing to provide rationale for request, relying on ‘foreign agent’ suspicions, vice-chairwoman says
- Responding to the refusal to comply, Security Bureau warns alliance to ‘immediately turn back before it is too late’
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China recently announced plans to disband after 32 years of activism, but sources now say there is a possibility that an extraordinary general meeting later this month to finalise the move may end up rejecting it.
Local and Beijing authorities condemned the alliance as it remained defiant on Sunday, declaring at a press conference that it would not comply with national security police letters delivered to 12 of its core members demanding specifics about their activities and funding sources.
“We will not provide the information requested,” alliance vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung said, accusing police of failing to explain why the group was being characterised as a foreign agent, and dismissing the demand for information as a “fishing expedition”.
“The National Security Department … is setting a very bad precedent by casually labelling any civil groups as foreign agents and then asserting that they have the power to demand any information [they want],” she said.
