Hong Kong government hits out at fugitive former lawmaker Ted Hui after Facebook call to add police and legal figures to US sanctions list
- Government accuses Hui of ‘doxxing’ and ‘collusion with foreign forces’ after he calls for city officials involved in his court cases to be added to US sanctions list
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner warns Hui’s Facebook post may constitute doxxing under Hong Kong legislation
The government accused Hui of “doxxing” and attempting to “collude with a foreign country or external force” after he listed the names of police officers, lawyers and judges connected to his legal cases in the city on Facebook on Sunday.
“The … government strongly condemns [Hui’s] political grandstanding rife with ill intentions, which have been seen through by all,” a spokesman said.
Hui said in the post he had listed the names so that they “would not be missed on the international sanctions list,” and appealed to people to provide additional details on the officials he had identified.
But the spokesman said Hui’s action could amount to collusion and that his public “clamouring” for sanctions and doxxing of government personnel interfered with the city’s judicial system.
He added Hui, a former Democratic Party member, was suspected of committing a variety of offences, but that he had “no intention” of facing legal proceedings.
The spokesman added that Hui was “completely devoid of integrity” as he had lied to a court to get approval to leave the city.
“It is outrageous that he continues to engage in acts and activities endangering national security after absconding overseas,” he said.
The spokesman added it was important for government personnel and their families to be safe from doxxing and other forms of harassment so they could continue to safeguard national security “without worries”.
Fugitive Hong Kong politician Ted Hui bankrupt for failure to pay legal fees
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data added it “strongly condemns” Hui for “blatantly disclosing” personal information without consent. The office added his actions might constitute doxxing under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.
Hui, who lives in Australia, is among 13 activists now overseas who had HK$1 million (US$127,840) bounties put on their heads by police for alleged national security offences.
He was declared bankrupt by the High Court last month over a failure to pay the legal costs of court proceedings he was involved in before he fled Hong Kong in 2020.
Hui’s Facebook post linked his decision to list the names to reports of the resignation of Alice Chan Shook-man, a Department of Justice official.
Samuel Bickett, a United States lawyer convicted of assault on a Hong Kong police officer, said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, last week that Chan was “the first sanctions target named in the Hong Kong Sanctions Act to quit,” according to a Hong Kong Department of Justice internal email he said had been seen by city activists.
Hong Kong national security police question in-laws of Ted Hui, wife’s brother
Chan was among 49 city officials, judges, and prosecutors named in the Hong Kong Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill announced by a group of US legislators designed to expand the list of people to be penalised over the city’s national security legislation.
But the Department of Justice over the weekend highlighted that Chan had submitted her resignation in September – two months before the US sanctions bill was announced.
“The [department] reiterates that all colleagues will continue to perform their duties without fear and uphold the rule of law in Hong Kong,” a spokesman said at the weekend.
“Foreign politicians’ threats of sanctions against colleagues, which are in violation of international law, will only make colleagues all the more determined to discharge their obligations and responsibilities in safeguarding national security.”
