Top US diplomat calls on international community to resist ‘cross-border repression’.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Hong Kong authorities for placing bounties on five overseas-based pro-democracy activists, including a US citizen, and called on the international community to resist “cross-border repression”.

Blinken said on Friday that the bounty of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($128,000) for information leading to the arrests of the activists showed Hong Kong authorities’ disregard for international norms and human rights.

“We firmly reject any attempts to intimidate and silence individuals who choose to make the United States their home and will not hesitate to stand up for those who are targeted simply for exercising their human rights will,” Blinken said in a statement.

“We encourage the international community to join us in condemning this act of cross-border repression. “The United States remains committed to defending the rights and freedoms of all people and calls on the PRC to act in accordance with its international obligations and legal obligations,” the top US diplomat added, referring to the Acronym of China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron had previously condemned the Hong Kong authorities’ move as a “threat to our democracy and our fundamental human rights.”

Hong Kong authorities on Thursday announced the rewards for information on Joey Siu, Simon Cheng, Frances Hui, Johnny Fok and Tony ChoiThey are all being sought under the Chinese-controlled territory’s draconian national security law, which claims jurisdiction over the entire planet.

Hong Kong police chief Steve Li Kwai-wah said the five were suspected of inciting secession, inciting subversion and foreign collusion and had “betrayed their own country and Hong Kong.”

The five have campaigned from abroad for democracy and civil liberties in Hong Kong following a crackdown in the city that criminalized virtually all opposition to Beijing.

Siu has US citizenship and Hui was granted asylum in the US in 2021.

Cheng, who was granted asylum by the British government in 2020, Fok and Choi all live in the United Kingdom.

In April, Hong Kong authorities announced bounties for information leading to the arrest of eight more overseas-based Hong Kong activists, including former MP Ted Hui.

Siu said on X that she would “never be silenced” and “never give in.”

Hui said her advocacy for democracy and freedom “has not stopped and will not stop,” while Cheng called the charges against him an “honor.”

Amnesty International said Thursday that the bounties were “confirmation that the Hong Kong authorities’ systematic dismantling of human rights has officially reached global proportions.”

China’s foreign ministry responded to criticism of the bounties on Friday, accusing Western governments of exposing their “malicious intentions to confuse Hong Kong.”

About 300 people have been arrested under Hong Kong’s national security law, which has drastically curtailed the rights and freedoms that supposedly distinguish the city from mainland China under an agreement called “one country, two systems.”

Among those arrested is Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, founder of the defunct Apple Daily newspaper, who is due to stand trial from Monday on charges of collusion with foreign forces.