Hong Kong Revokes Passports of Overseas Activists Amid Escalating Crackdown on Dissent 

Hong Kong authorities escalated their crackdown this week on overseas activists they accuse of threatening national security, revoking the passports of 12 dissidents and threatening to prosecute anyone helping them financially, Sky News reported. 

Hong Kong’s Security Bureau unveiled the new measures Monday, which prohibit anyone from providing financial support, renting property, or doing business with the “absconders,” Al Jazeera wrote. People who violate the restrictions risk up to seven years in prison. 

According to the government, these measures target 16 activists now residing in the United Kingdom, US, Canada, Germany, Australia, Thailand, and Taiwan, among other places. They are accused of engaging in activities that threaten national security.  

It also invalidated the passports of a dozen activists, rendering them stateless. These individuals were part of a group of 19 people – 12 activists and seven pro-democracy campaigners – who were the target of arrest warrants in July over their alleged involvement in establishing an unofficial parliament overseas. 

Hong Kong’s leaders said that the activists’ alleged involvement in the “Hong Kong Parliament” advocacy group amounts to subversion under the Chinese-ruled city’s sweeping national security law. 

The group criticized the arrest warrants and bounties for the activists, ranging from about $25,000 to $117,000 for information leading to arrests, saying they are a “blatant abuse of legal instruments to pursue political persecution.”  

Foreign governments, including the US, UK, and European Union, have also opposed the arrest warrants.  

Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials insist the actions were lawful and justified. 

Hong Kong, once famous for its political activism and free press, has significantly restricted dissent since China imposed a broad national security law in 2020, following anti-government protests the year before. 

Building on the 2020 law, Hong Kong introduced a local national security law in 2024. 

Opposition parties have been virtually erased from the city’s legislature.