Hong Kong national security police have taken away the parents of wanted US-based activist Frances Hui Wing-ting for questioning, the Post has learned, after Washington imposed a new round of sanctions on local officials for what it called "transnational repression".
A source said that Hui's mother and father were escorted to two police stations in Sha Tin on Thursday.
Hui, who left the city in 2020 and is now based in the United States, is among 19 activists with HK$1 million bounties on their heads for allegedly violating the Beijing-imposed national security law in Hong Kong.
She is wanted on suspicion of colluding with a foreign country to endanger national security. Police accuse her of repeatedly calling on foreign countries to impose sanctions, blockades and other actions against China.
Hui was among seven wanted activists whose passports were cancelled by authorities last December.
In 2022, Hui was granted political asylum in the US. She now serves as a policy and advocacy coordinator at the Washington-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, which is considered "anti-China" by city authorities.
Earlier this month, Washington imposed another major round of sanctions on six officials in Hong Kong, including Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok and former Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions were for the officials' alleged involvement in "undermining Hong Kong's autonomy, depriving Hongkongers of freedoms and … acts of transnational repression targeting activists on US soil".
Beijing vowed to retaliate against the US, saying the "illegal" sanctions exposed "the malicious intent of the US side to undermine Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and contain China's development."
A spokesman for the Hong Kong government said earlier that the administration would not be cowed by the latest move from the US and would continue to discharge its duty of safeguarding national security.
