Hong Kong authorities have issued arrest warrants and bounties for 19 pro-democracy activists living overseas, accusing them of subversion for their involvement in the unofficial 'Hong Kong Parliament.' The move has drawn sharp condemnation from the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, who accuse Hong Kong and Beijing of transnational repression and undermining international legal norms. Several of those targeted are citizens or residents of Western countries, escalating diplomatic tensions. Hong Kong and Chinese officials have dismissed the criticism as biased and defended the actions as lawful enforcement under the national security law. The episode highlights growing concerns over China's reach beyond its borders to silence dissent.
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Honestly, this whole situation just shows how messy things get when politics turn into a blame game between big powers. On one hand, I get that countries want to enforce their own laws, but going after people overseas just makes things more complicated for everyone. The West is obviously going to call out China for overreach, but there's also a lot of hypocrisy in how both sides operate sometimes. I just wish there was more focus on dialogue instead of escalating these tensions. At the end of the day, regular people—whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere—are the ones caught in the middle of all this drama.
It’s absolutely outrageous to see Hong Kong authorities targeting pro-democracy activists abroad—this kind of authoritarian overreach is exactly what we should all be standing up against if we care about democracy and human rights.
This is outrageous—Hong Kong and Beijing are clearly crossing a line by targeting activists overseas just for speaking out about democracy. It’s disturbing to see them try to intimidate people living in free countries, and it totally undermines international norms and human rights. Democracies everywhere need to push back hard against this kind of transnational repression.
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