US Condemns Hong Kong’s Targeting of Democracy Activists Abroad

The United States has urged Hong Kong to stop using its ‘national security laws to silence dissent.’

Police officers patrol at the Causeway Bay district nearby Victoria Park where people traditionally gathered annually to mourn the victims of China's Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 in Hong Kong on June 4, 2024. Nearby Victoria Park had been the site of an annual remembrance of the massacre, but since the new national security law has gone into effect, the event no longer takes place. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

The United States has condemned the Hong Kong government’s issuance of arrest warrants and bounties for pro-democracy activists abroad and the cancellation of seven additional passports, calling the move a blatant attempt to stifle dissent and extend transnational repression.

In a statement on Dec. 26, the U.S. Department of State said it rejected the Hong Kong government’s efforts to “ intimidate and silence individuals who choose to make the United States their home.”