Hong Kong national security law: protest fund facing foreign collusion probe to stop taking donations ‘until further notice’
- The 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund is closing almost a month earlier than expected after police investigation into its activities
- Group has helped those charged as a result of the civil unrest in 2019
A fund set up to help Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters will stop taking donations “until further notice”, days after police launched an investigation into its activities.
The 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund had previously said it would close in October, but wrote on its Facebook page on Monday that it would “stop receiving donations for the time being”.
It said the Alliance for True Democracy – an opposition group advocating universal suffrage which helped it collect donations – had notified the fund that it would stop executing its requests for payment out of the bank account it used.
Last week, police sent letters to key leaders in charge of the fund, and the alliance, demanding operational information, citing powers under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
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The fund’s decision means those hoping to make a one-off donation cannot do so, while regular contributors’ payments will also stop.
“For all recent donations, the fund will seek legal advice and communicate with the bank and online payment processor on whether any refunds can be made,” it said. “We will make an announcement if there are any updates on refunds.”
According to the fund’s annual report for 2021, some 2,500 people donated to it every month.
The fund has been caught up in an investigation by police’s National Security Department, which is investigating possible collusion with foreign forces. Detailed allegations have not been made.
Two weeks before police took action on September 1, the fund’s trustees announced it would close in October “under the current political environment”.
Security police eye foreign collusion case against Hong Kong protests fund
They said it would be difficult to open a bank account after being notified by the alliance that they would no longer help them collect donations.
Online and bank donations will cease on September 21 and September 27, respectively.
The fund’s balance was HK$5 million as of August 19. But by Monday, the figure had climbed to HK$7.2 million.
Without naming the fund, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung suggested late last month that the continued appeal for donations was an attempt “to make underhanded profit before their closure”.
An insider said police were investigating whether the fund and the alliance had colluded with foreign forces, and the information they wanted included the source and purpose of the donations, as well as the information of the donors.
Court orders had been sent to some 10 individuals, including the fund’s trustees, directors and people in charge of the alliance.
The fund’s trustees are Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, former opposition lawmakers Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and Cyd Ho Sau-lan, academic Hui Po-keung, and singer-activist Denise Ho Wan-sze, whose September concert series was recently cancelled by the Hong Kong Arts Centre over unspecified public safety concerns.
Since it was founded in 2019, the fund has distributed more than HK$243 million (US$31.2 million) to protesters facing prosecution or financial hardship as a result of the 2019 social unrest.
Meanwhile, the organiser of Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil is expected to formally tell police on Tuesday that it will not comply with their demand for information under the national security law about its membership, operations and finances.
Representatives of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China will submit their replies to police headquarters in Wan Chai.
Denying it was a foreign agent as police had alleged, the group said at the weekend it was not obliged to hand over information.
