Hong Kong Police Issue Warning to Young Democrat Activist Who Fled to Canada

"If You Don't Surrender, You'll Be Chased Forever"... Hong Kong Police Wanted Notice

Hong Kong police announced on the 6th that they have issued a wanted order for democracy activist Agnes Chow (27), who fled to Canada.

The Hong Kong Standard and other media outlets reported this on the same day, citing Hong Kong police. The Hong Kong police stated, "Chow, who violated bail conditions and fled, completely disregarded the law and order," adding, "He has officially become a wanted person."

Hong Kong democracy activist Agnes Chow [Photo by Yonhap News]

Hong Kong police said, "We will make every effort to ensure Chow faces the judgment of the law," and added, "Fugitives should not harbor the delusion that they can escape legal responsibility by fleeing Hong Kong. If they do not surrender, they will be pursued for life."

Chow is a leading young democracy activist in Hong Kong and was a key figure in the 2014 Umbrella Movement alongside Joshua Wong and Nathan Law. She also served as a leader of the pro-Hong Kong independence youth political group, the Demosist? Party, which voluntarily disbanded just before the Hong Kong National Security Law came into effect.

Chow was sentenced to 10 months in prison in 2019 for participating in an illegal assembly during anti-government protests and was released in June 2021. Afterward, the Demosist? Party disbanded, and Law applied for asylum in the UK in 2021 and was granted approval.

Earlier, in December last year, on her birthday, Chow posted on social media that she had come to Canada to pursue a master's degree and said, "I probably will never return."

[Photo by Agnes Chow Instagram]

At that time, she said, "I originally planned to return to Hong Kong in December and report to the police, but considering the situation in Hong Kong, my personal safety, and my physical and mental health, I will not return to Hong Kong."

She also said, "I do not want to be forced into anything, nor do I want to be forced to go to mainland China anymore," adding, "I probably will never return to Hong Kong for the rest of my life." This was interpreted as effectively indicating asylum.

Chow was also arrested in August 2020, just before her imprisonment, along with Jimmy Lai, owner of the anti-China newspaper Apple Daily, on charges of colluding with foreign forces under the Hong Kong National Security Law. However, she was not prosecuted at that time, and the police confiscated her passport.

At that time, the police ordered her to regularly report to the police regarding the National Security Law violations after completing her prison sentence and being released. Last year, Hong Kong police offered a bounty of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 170 million KRW) per person on 13 overseas democracy activists accused of violating the National Security Law in two separate instances.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.