Hong Kong national security police have reportedly detained the daughter of a wanted activist, in the latest move targeting the families of pro-democracy figures in exile.
Mimi Mi Wahng Yuen, the daughter of Elmer Yuen, was taken for questioning on Monday morning, according to local media.
Elmer Yuen, 74, is accused of having encouraged foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong officials and judges, online from the US, and promoting Hong Kong’s self-determination.
Authorities in Hong Kong recently announced bounties HK$1m (£99,500) on eight activists wanted for arrest. All are based overseas, including the UK, US and Australia, and are accused of continuing to violate the 2020 national security law while in exile.
All eight left Hong Kong after the introduction of the law, which authorities have wielded as part of its expansive crackdown on pro-democracy opposition after the 2019 mass protests.
The activists are Nathan Law, Anna Kwok, Finn Lau, Dennis Kwok, Ted Hui, Kevin Yam, Mung Siu-tat and Yuen, high-profile pro-democracy activists, former lawmakers and legal scholars, who the police said “encouraged sanctions … to destroy Hong Kong”.
The questioning of Yuen’s daughter on Monday is at least the fourth action against the families of wanted activists this month by the national security police division, which was formed in 2020 to enforce the controversial law.
This month, officers raided the home of Law’s family, and last week they raided the homes of the families of Kwok and the UK-based labour activist Christopher Mung.
Kwok’s brother and relatives of Mung were among people taken away for questioning by the police. Police at the time said the questioning related to suspicion of “assisting the fugitives to continue to engage in acts that endanger national security”.
