When Finn Lau woke one morning this month to dozens of messages urging him to take care, he was confused as to what had happened. But he was not distressed to learn that Hong Kong authorities had offered a HK$1m (£100,000) bounty for his arrest, along with that of seven other overseas activists, because it was not the first threat he had faced.
Since helping to lead pro-democracy protests challenging Hong Kong’s authorities and a national security law that brought sweeping extraterritorial powers into force three years ago, Lau, 29, who now lives in the UK, has become a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist party.
“I think it reflects the change of tactics and shows how desperate they are,” said Lau, who has started carrying a personal alarm device and a flash torch for safety since waking to those messages on 4 July. “The only difference is that this time is an explicit [threat]. They somehow mentally prepared me to face this kind of situation three years ago.”
For years, Lau has been using his experiences to sound the alarm about the increasing threat of transnational oppression. He has requested urgent meetings with the UK home secretary and foreign secretary but received no response. A meeting with the Metropolitan police earlier this month was his first in three years.
“That is the so-called pragmatic approach of the UK government. Wait and do nothing,” said Lau, who feels the bounty is a consequence of the government doing too little, too late.
“I don’t know how many incidents or how serious it has to be to make them take action. Does it mean that if there’s anyone being abducted from the UK, or even facing another incident just like those Russians doing what they have done in the UK, then they will finally respond?” he added, referring to the poisoning of two Russian nationals in 2018.
Four years ago, an estimated 1.7 million people in Hong Kong – a quarter of the population – spilled out into the streets in what would later swell into a wider democracy movement against a government plan to allow extraditions to mainland China.
In response, the UK suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and provided a bespoke visa route for hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers to emigrate to the UK.
But after a pro-democracy protester was beaten in the grounds of a Chinese consulate in Manchester last year, and reports of Chinese “police service stations” across the UK, Lau – who has been approached by individuals impersonating journalists and officials – no longer feels safe in the UK.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Attempts by foreign governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, undermining democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable.”
In response to the bounty, Lau believes the UK government should deploy targeted sanctions on senior Hong Kong officials and, more broadly, reduce dependency on the Chinese market to increase the government’s diplomatic levers.
Mark Sabah, the director of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said: “The British government’s response to them is laughable at best. If that isn’t a threat to someone, I don’t know what needs to happen for the British authorities to step up and take concrete steps. What’s the point of telling people we’re a safe haven?”
Lau’s activism was sparked after he took part in a parallel protest in London in 2019. He later anonymously called for the asset seizure and revocation of foreign citizenships of senior Hong Kong officials, in a post that went viral in Hong Kong, garnering thousands of responses.
In 2020, he returned to Hong Kong to participate peacefully in a new year’s protest at which hundreds were arrested amid violent clashes with police. After being detained for more than 50 hours in “inhumane” conditions, he said, he promised himself that should he be free again he would do his best to help Hong Kong.
“Luckily they didn’t figure out my identity as one of the key leaders or players of the 2019 Hong Kong movement,” said Lau, who has continued his activism in the UK as founder of Hong Kong Liberty and Stand with Hong Kong. “They made, I would say, a serious mistake of releasing me.”
After he returned to London, the coronavirus pandemic soon prompted lockdowns and Lau was warned by friends in Hong Kong that a £100,000 bounty had been placed on his life through underground networks.
Shortly afterwards, when walking through Richmond one evening, he was followed by three hooded men wearing masks. No words were exchanged, nor were his phone or wallet taken as they violently punched and kicked his head. He recalled asking himself: “Is this the end of my life?”
“I would say 99% of this is related to the Chinese Community party,” said Lau, who has a scar over his right eye from the incident.
But the concussion, depression and the six-month recovery that followed did little to deter Lau. Instead, it has only elevated his determination to stand in the face of transnational oppression.
Within weeks, the Metropolitan police had closed the case, classifying it as a hate crime. Two months later, his personal information was leaked to newspapers in Beijing.
“I decided to [go] fully public to continue to fight because yes I am facing severe safety or security threats even though I’m in the UK, but in the end I have to use or utilise the so-called freedom outside Hong Kong to fight on behalf of our friends.”
Three years on, and another threat to his life later, Lau said he would not be deterred from continuing his advocacy. “I won’t be deterred from continuing to fight for the freedom and future of Hong Kong,” he said.
