Hong Kong police issue arrest warrants and bounties for six activists

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Hong Kong police issue arrest warrants and bounties for six activists

2024-12-24 19:56 Last Updated At：20:00

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police on Tuesday announced a fresh round of arrest warrants for six activists based overseas, with bounties set at $1 million Hong Kong dollars for information leading to their arrests.

According to the warrants, the six are wanted for national security offences such as secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces. They include Tony Chung, the former leader of now-defunct pro-independence group Studentlocalism.

U.K.-based Carmen Lau, a former district councilor and current activist with the Hong Kong Democracy Council, as well as Chloe Cheung, an activist with the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, also had warrants issued against them.

The latest round of warrants signals that the Hong Kong government is targeting vocal critics based abroad.

The government had previously issued two rounds of arrest warrants and bounties for more prominent activists, including ex-lawmakers Ted Hui and Nathan Law.

The increasing number of wanted individuals abroad come as Hong Kong continues to crack down on political dissent following massive anti-government protests in 2019 that resulted in a wave of pro-democracy movements. Many outspoken pro-democracy activists have since been jailed, with others fleeing abroad.

Chung, the former Studentlocalism leader, said in a story posted to Instagram that he was “honored” to be the first Hong Konger to be accused of violating the national security law twice.

“As a staunch Hong Kong nationalist, today's wanted notice is undoubtedly a kind of affirmation for me. In the future, I will continue to unswervingly and fearlessly promote the self-determination of Hong Kong," he wrote.

Separately, Cheung, who is based in the U.K., said in an Instagram post that “even in the face of a powerful enemy, I will continue to do what I believe is right.”

“How fragile, incompetent, and cowardly does a regime have to be to believe that I, a 19-year-old, ordinary Hongkonger, can 'endanger' and 'divide' the country? How panicked are they that they have to put a million-dollar bounty on me?” she asked.

Lau posted on X a call for governments, including those of the U.K., U.S., and EU countries, to “impose sanctions on Hong Kong human rights perpetrators without further delay" and urged democracies to support Hong Kong's right to self-determination.

"The Hong Kong government’s latest round of arrest warrants and bounties against six Hong Kong activists is a cowardly act of intimidation that aims to silence Hong Kong people," said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch.

“The six — including two Canadian citizens — live in the U.K. and Canada. We call on the U.K. and Canadian governments to act immediately to push back against the Hong Kong government’s attempts to threaten Hong Kongers living in their countries.”

Tuesday's arrest warrants take the total number of wanted people to 19.

Others on the list Tuesday are Chung Kim-wah, previously a senior member of independent polling organization Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute; Joseph Tay, co-founder of Canada-based NGO HongKonger Station; and YouTuber Victor Ho.

Separately Tuesday, the Hong Kong government issued orders for the cancellation of passports belonging to seven "absconders", including ex-lawmakers Hui and Dennis Kwok, who are wanted under the security law.

The orders were made under Hong Kong's domestic national security law — known as Article 23 — and also prohibits the seven from dealing with funds in Hong Kong as well as activities related to joint ventures and property.

Cities worldwide hold subdued Christmas Eve celebrations amid conflicts

2024-12-25 09:06 Last Updated At：09:10

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza.

The cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists.

Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass marching band. Security forces arranged barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born. A young boy stood holding a pile of balloons for sale, but gave up because there were no customers to buy them.

The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all from the Christmas season. The number of visitors to Bethlehem plunged from a pre-COVID high of around 2 million per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry.

A surge of violence in the West Bank, where more than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis have been killed in militant attacks, has greatly stalled tourism. Palestinian officials do not provide a breakdown of how many of the deceased are civilians and how many are fighters.

Since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war, access to and from Bethlehem and other towns in the West Bank has been limited, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass through Israeli military checkpoints. The restrictions have prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the Israeli economy to contract by 25%.

In the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 Israeli hostages. Israeli officials believe that around 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, noted the shuttered shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better.

“This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate.

Pizzaballa held a special pre-Christmas Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. Several Palestinian Christians told the Associated Press that they had been displaced in the church since the war began in October of last year with barely enough food and water.

“We hope by next year at the same day we’d be able to celebrate Christmas at our homes and go to Bethlehem,” said Najla Tarazi, a displaced woman who prayed for the war to end. “We don’t feel happy.”

Bethlehem is an important center in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million residents spread across the Holy Land. There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the U.S. State Department.

Elsewhere, worshippers found connection despite difficult times.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris celebrated its first Christmas Eve Masses since a devastating fire ravaged the medieval landmark in 2019.

About 2,000 people joined an afternoon Mass — one of four held on Tuesday — including worshippers and other visitors marveling at the restoration of the recently reopened cathedral. Some American tourists in Paris crafted their trip to ensure they could attend Christmas Eve services at Notre Dame.

“They did such an amazing job,” said visitor Aly Beinert. “It looks beautiful. It blew us away."

The Paris Archbishop symbolically reopened Notre Dame’s grand wooden doors on Dec. 7 with three resounding knocks, with guests including President-elect Donald Trump, U.S. first lady Jill Biden, Britain’s Prince William and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In Saydnaya, Syria, a large crowd gathered near a historic monastery on Christmas Eve to witness the lighting of a towering tree adorned with glowing green lights.

The celebration offered a rare moment of joy in a city scarred by over a decade of war and its infamous prison, where tens of thousands were held. Families and friends stood by the illuminated tree — some wearing Santa hats, others watching from rooftops — while a band played festive music and fireworks lit up the sky.

“This year is different — there’s happiness, victory and a new birth for Syria and a new birth for Christ,” said Houssam Saadeh, one attendee. Another, Joseph Khabbaz, expressed hope for unity across all sects and religions in Syria, dismissing recent Christmas tree vandalism as “isolated incidents.”

At City Church in Madison, Wisconsin, lead pastor Tom Flaherty urged congregants at a candlelight Christmas Eve service to open their hearts to God’s grace.

“Happiness comes from what happens. Joy comes from a much deeper place, and it doesn’t matter what’s going on around you,” Flaherty said. “So number one, joy comes from God’s love, and forgiveness.”

Eight days earlier, there was a deadly shooting in the school on the church’s campus.

Over the weekend, the congregation hosted a funeral for Rubi Patricia Vergara, the 14-year-old freshman killed when another student opened fire. A teacher was also killed and several others injured before the shooter shot herself and later died at a hospital, police said.

American Airlines briefly grounded flights across the U.S. on Tuesday due to a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive. Winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive.

In Virginia, hundreds of sailors and their loved ones got an early Christmas present when the USS Cole docked at its home port in Norfolk after seven months at sea. Families bundled in coats and blankets, shed tears of gratitude and held signs bearing the sailors' names and photos.

Volunteers in Colorado Springs, Colorado, answered calls Tuesday from curious children inquiring about Santa's location. At least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command each year to track Santa's whereabouts. NORAD’s beloved Santa tracking tradition has endured since the Cold War, when a Colorado newspaper mistakenly printed a phone number for Santa that connected kids to the joint U.S. and Canadian defense command.

In the port of Barcelona, Spain, volunteers from the faith-based ministry Stella Maris visited seven ships docked there on Christmas Eve to deliver Nativity scenes and the local specialty of turrón (nougat candy) to seafarers.

The volunteers met seafarers from India, the Philippines, Turkey and elsewhere, said Ricard Rodríguez-Martos, a Catholic deacon and former merchant marine captain who leads Stella Maris in this major Mediterranean harbor.

A snowstorm in the Balkans stranded drivers and downed power lines Tuesday, but some saw the beauty in it.

“I’m actually glad it's falling,” said driver Mirsad Jasarevic in Zenica, Bosnia. “We did not have snow for Christmas for 17 years here, and now is the time for wonderful white Christmas.”

Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City, Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Jeffrey Schaeffer and Marine Lesprit in Paris, and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report.