Former Hong Kong Student Leader Seeks UK Asylum

Tony Chung, the former leader of a Hong Kong pro-independence group who was jailed under the territory’s national security law, has fled to the United Kingdom saying his life in Hong Kong was “filled with fear”.

Chung, who was 20 when he was sentenced to three and half years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to “secession,” said in a social media post that he had flown to the UK from Japan and arrived in London on the evening of December 27 where he “formally applied for political asylum” on entry.

He shared a picture of himself at UK arrivals with his suitcase.

“Even though I had anticipated this day in the past, I still felt heavy after making up my mind,” wrote Chung, who as a teenager headed the now-defunct Studentlocalism group.

“Since I joined the political struggle at the age of 14, I have always believed that Hong Kong is the only home of our Hong Kong nation, and we should never be the ones to leave.”

Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in mid-2020, after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests had rocked the territory the previous year, claiming the legislation was necessary to restore stability.

The law punishes activities deemed as subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces, and extremism with up to life in prison, and has led to hundreds of arrests. Others, including elected politicians, activists and journalists have gone into exile.

Chung said he had been released from prison in June 2023 but was required to report regularly to the authorities.

“In the past six months, with no income from any work, the national security police officers kept on coercing and inducing me to join them,” Chung wrote on Facebook, saying the situation had affected his physical and mental health.

Elaborating on the situation on X, Frances Hui, the policy and advocacy coordinator for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said that during those meetings, Chung was “coerced to provide details of every interpersonal interaction that he made, who he met [names and contact info], where they met [and] what they discussed. They also obtained access to his bank statements, financial aid applications etc …”

The officers also offered him money to “snitch on others” and mentioned arranging a trip to China, she added, while Chung said he was prevented from seeking help from a lawyer or anyone else because of a confidentiality clause surrounding his interactions with the national security police.

ALJAZEERA