The government is being urged by MPs to provide proper protection for Hong Kong activists in the UK after their neighbours received letters encouraging them to hand them in to the Chinese embassy.
Tony Chung, 23, and former politician Carmen Lau, 30, have both had threatening letters sent to their neighbours, offering HK$1m (£100,000) for information about them or to “deliver” them to the Chinese embassy.
In December, Mr Chung and Ms Lau, who both fled Hong Kong after speaking out against the government, had HK$1m (£100,000) bounties placed on them.
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A group of cross-party MPs and peers, who are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, has now written to security minister Dan Jarvis, calling for Hong Kongers who have sought safety in the UK to be provided with a dedicated “reporting address”.
In the letter, exclusively seen by Sky News, they said Hong Kong activists in the UK have had “disappointing experiences” when reporting acts of transnational repression – the targeting of political dissidents by the Chinese state in the UK – to the police.
“Several victims of transnational repression have described disappointing experiences when dealing with local police,” the letter says.
“Three were simply turned away by officers who told them they had not been victims of a crime.
“Knowing that few police have the specific training needed to understand this complex problem, it would be very helpful if victims had an email address they could contact and know that the person on the other end of it would take them seriously.”
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‘Calling 999 is sufficient’
On Tuesday, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith held up one of the neighbours’ letters in the House of Commons as he asked Mr Jarvis: “How much longer are we going to say all these wonderful words in this House about what we stand for?”
Mr Jarvis replied: “The activity that he describes is completely unacceptable.
“The government is crystal clear that the kind of activity that he has just described is not acceptable and we will do everything that we are able to do in order to prevent it from happening.”
In November, Sir Iain wrote to Mr Jarvis calling for a dedicated reporting line for Hong Kong dissidents, however Mr Jarvis said – in a letter seen by Sky News – a review, in consultation with counter-terror police found calling 999, 101 or visiting a local police station was the “most effective method”.
Teen dissident told to call 999 after being followed
Chloe Cheung, 19, had a bounty placed on her in December and said she was told by counter-terror police to call 999 and given a safety booklet after being followed by two Chinese men in January.
“It’s not enough from the UK government or the police, it’s not acceptable,” she said during a meeting of the five Hong Kong women who have had bounties placed on them.
‘The UK government hasn’t done anything’
Ms Lau said she receives a lot of harassment and intimidation online, but having letters sent to her neighbours trying to bribe them to bring her to the Chinese embassy shows how it is “real life, it’s physical”.
She added: “We’ve also experienced being shadowed, followed, on the streets.
“It’s very disappointing the UK government hasn’t been doing anything.”
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Ms Lau also revealed police in Hong Kong questioned her distant relatives two days after she spoke at a protest against the “mega embassy” China has put a planning application in for near the Tower of London, which a US congressional committee has warned will put the UK’s national security at risk.
The MPs say in the letter the fact the embassy is being considered by the government is only exacerbating concern from the UK’s Hong Kong and Chinese communities as they say it will be used as a spy headquarters.
They have asked Mr Jarvis to meet Mr Chung and Ms Lam to discuss the issue and ensure “dissidents in the UK are kept safe”.
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The MPs and peers who signed the letter are: Lord Alton, Lord Shinkwin, Baroness D’Souza, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Chris Law, Alistair Carmichael, Luke Taylor, Marie Rimmer, James Naish, Phil Brickell.
Sky News has contacted the Home Office for a comment.
