Timeline of Arrest Warrants and Bounties Issued for Overseas Hong Kongers
#2 in the Hong Kong Repression Monitor series
Last updated October 9, 2025
The Hong Kong Repression Monitor series provides overviews of indicators of repression in Hong Kong, based on research and data collected from 2019 to the present. For more information, see this introduction, which will also provide a full list of entries in the series as they are published.
The following is #2 in the Hong Kong Repression Monitor series. I hadn’t intended to put this one second, but since it is also a developing story, with a new batch of arrest warrants issued on Christmas Eve 2024 and, in relation to that, eight people having been targeted in Hong Kong already in 2025, I though it might be useful to get this out now. The Hong Kong Repression Monitor series focuses on repression in Hong Kong, but as the arrest warrants and bounties show, it’s not confined to there. The regime’s attempt to extend repression to the Hong Kong diaspora poses a threat to Hong Kongers living abroad and a challenge to host countries.
On July 3, 2023, the Hong Kong national security police (formally titled the National Security Department) issued arrest warrants and HK$1 million (about US$128,000) bounties for six overseas Hong Kongers. This was the first in what up to now has been four batches of 34 arrest warrants and bounties between then and July 25, 2025. In connection, the national security police have arrested, detained for interrogation and placed under investigation at least 80 others in Hong Kong, mostly relatives and former associates of those targeted abroad. In some cases, their homes and offices have also been raided.
The national security law imposed by the Chinese Communist Party on Hong Kong on June 30, 2020 (formally titled Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) asserts extraterritorial jurisdiction. It is under that supposed legal authority that Hong Kong authorities have issued the arrest warrants.
Below is a timeline of the issuance of these arrest warrants and bounties as well as of the crackdown on people in Hong Kong whom the authorities have found to have been associated with the wanted individuals overseas. At the bottom of the timeline is a summary of the number of people targeted in the crackdown. That is followed by a commentary.
Timeline of arrest warrants and bounties issued by the Hong Kong government for Hong Kongers residing overseas and of arrests and detentions of people in Hong Kong in relation to the arrest warrants and bounties
2023
July 3: Hong Kong national security police issue arrest warrants and bounties for eight overseas Hong Kongers: Nathan Law, Christopher Mung Siu-tat, Dennis Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Anna Kwok, Ted Hui, Finn Lau, and Kevin Yam.
July 5: Four former members of Nathan Law’s defunct former party Demosistō arrested.
July 6: One former member of Nathan Law’s defunct former party Demosistō arrested at airport.
July 11: Nathan Law's mother, father and brother detained for interrogation.
July 13: One former member of Nathan Law’s former party Demosistō and two others (identities unknown) detained for interrogation.
July 18: Christopher Mung Siu-tat’s brother, brother-in-law and nephew detained for interrogation.
July 20: Dennis Kwok’s mother, father, brother and sister-in-law detained for interrogation.
July 24: Elmer Yuen’s son, daughter and daughter-in-law, a pro-CCP Legislative Council member, detained for interrogation.
July 27: Two former members of Nathan Law’s defunct former party Demosistō arrested.
August 3: Elmer Yuen’s ex-wife, son and daughter detained for interrogation.
August 8: Anna Kwok’s father and mother detained for interrogation.
August 10: Ten arrested on suspicion of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” for conspiring with the defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided assistance to arrested and injured protesters, to “to receive donations from various overseas organisations to support people who have fled overseas or organisations which called for sanctions against Hong Kong.” While it is unclear how closely this is related to the arrest warrants and bounties on overseas Hong Kongers, it comes suspiciously on their heels and the announcement uses similar terminology in regard to supporting overseas Hong Kongers. No detailed information have yet to emerge about the arrests in order to determine how closely related to the arrest warrants and bounties they may be.
August 18: A former associate of Demosistō, Nathan Law’s defunct former party, detained for interrogation.
August 19: Nathan Law’s sister-in-law detained for interrogation.
August 22: Two brothers of Anna Kwok detained for interrogation.
August 29: Two more arrested on suspicion of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” for conspiring with defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to “to receive donations from various overseas organisations to support people who have fled overseas or organisations which called for sanctions against Hong Kong.” The home of another person, absent from Hong Kong, searched.
September 12: Ted Hui’s parents-in-law and brother-in-law detained for interrogation.
December 14: Hong Kong national security police issue arrest warrants and bounties for five overseas Hong Kongers: Simon Cheng, Frances Hui, Joey Siu, Johny Fok and Tony Choi. This is the second batch of arrest warrants and bounties issued.
December 14: Hong Kong national security police announce arrests on December 13 of four in Hong Kong “suspected of providing pecuniary assistance” to, reportedly, Ted Hui and Nathan Law.
December 21 (approximately): Frances Hui’s mother detained for questioning; home searched.
December 29: The parents of Agnes Chow detained for interrogation after she announced on December 3 that she was in Canada and would not return to Hong Kong and a day after the deadline for her to report to police under bail conditions.
December 29: Hong Kong authorities order Tony Chung to return to Hong Kong and say an arrest warrant will be issued after he announced on December 27 that he’d applied for asylum in the UK. Note: An arrest warrant and HK$1 million bounty will eventually be issued for Tony Chung on December 24, 2024 for his activism after arriving in the UK.
2024
January 10: Simon Cheng’s parents and two elder sisters detained for interrogation; home raided.
June 12: Passports of six wanted overseas Hong Kongers residing in the UK cancelled: Simon Cheng, Finn Lau, Nathan Law, Christopher Mung, Johnny Fok, and Tony Choi.
June 17: News emerges of Nathan Law’s mother having been evicted from her public housing flat in June.
December 24: Hong Kong national security police issue arrest warrants and HK$1 million bounties for Carmen Lau, Tony Chung, Chloe Cheung, Chung Kim-wah, Victor Ho and Joe Tay. This is the third batch of arrest warrants and bounties issued. In addition, the passports of seven overseas Hong Kongers already targeted with arrests warrants and bounties are cancelled; namely, Ted Hui, Anna Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Dennis Kwok, Kevin Yam, Frances Hui and Joey Siu.
2025
January 13: Pollster Robert Chung’s home and office raided; Chung detained for interrogation. The Secretary for Security announces he is ”under investigation” for “assisting a wanted person overseas;” namely, Chung Kim-wah, who used to work for Robert Chung’s Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI).
January 14: Chung Kim-wah’s wife and son detained for interrogation.
January 22: Chung Kim-wah’s two brothers and a sister detained for interrogation.
January 23: Two staff members of PORI, Chung Kim-wah’s former organization, detained for interrogation.
January 27: Chung Kim-wah’s ex-colleague, pollster Robert Chung, detained for interrogation a second time.
February 10: Carmen Lau’s aunt and uncle detained for interrogation.
February 17: Carmen Lau’s aunt detained for interrogation (a different aunt from above).
February 17: Under the national security law, the High Court orders confiscation of assets owned by Ted Hui’s wife and mother as well as assets held in trust by an HK law firm on his behalf. The government claims they represent the “proceeds” from activities carried out by Ted Hui that “endangered national security.” Ted Hui says the national security authorities simply guessed the amount of funding he may have received via his Patreon account and used that guess to calculate the amount of “proceeds” he had received from “illegal activities.”
March 18: Tony Chung’s stepfather detained for interrogation.
April 10: Frances Hui’s mother and father detained for interrogation. This is the second time her mother has been detained. The arrest warrant and bounty were issued for Frances on December 14, 2023 and her mother was detained a week later. Frances made a post expressing her thoughts at her parents being targeted in retaliation against her.
May 2: Anna Kwok’s father and brother arrested by national security police. In fact, they were arrested on April 30, but police did not issue a press statement until May 2. Her brother was released on bail. Her father has been charged with violating Sections 90(2)(b) and 90(3) of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (having to do with “Prohibition against making available funds etc. or dealing with funds” for offenders; this is the second national security law passed in 2024) and one count of “attempting to deal, directly or indirectly, in funds or other financial assets or economic resources belonging to, or owned or controlled by, the fugitive” under Section 159G of the Crimes Ordinance. He was brought to court and remanded in custody. He did not apply for release on bail. The charges have apparently to do with an insurance policy that had Anna’s name on it. According to the defense, the question has to do with whether the policy belonged to Anna or her father. The defense says the prosecution has yet to provide the defense with the policy in question. The judge ordered the prosecution to do so by Tuesday, May 6. This is the first time family members of any of those for whom the national security police have issued arrest warrants and bounties have been arrested. It is also the first time anyone has been charged with these particular charges under the second national security law. On May 8, he was denied bail by the designated national security judge, who said there was insufficient evidence that he would not endanger national security if released. On May 20, upon appeal to the High Court, he was granted bail, the first time a defendant facing charges under Article 23 national security legislation has been released on bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 13.
May 8: A cousin of Joe Tay and the cousin’s wife detained for interrogation by national security police. Joe Tay was one of the six for whom arrest warrants and bounties were issued on December 24, 2024. This is the first known instance of anyone associated with him having been detained in Hong Kong. Tay was recently a candidate in Canadian elections. During the campaign, his initial opponent encouraged others to collect the bounty on him, and Canadian intelligence identified an online repression campaign against him.
May 28: A cousin of Joe Tay and the cousin’s husband detained for interrogation by national security police. This follows the detention of another cousin of Tay’s and the cousin’s wife on May 8 (see above).
July 25: Hong Kong national security police issue arrest warrants and bounties for 19 overseas Hong Kongers. Arrest warrants and HK$1 million bounties have previously been issued for four of the 19. New arrest warrants and HK$200,000 bounties are issued for 15 others. What all 19 have in common is association with the so-called Hong Kong Parliament. The four already facing arrest warrants and bounties are Elmer Yuen, Victor Ho, Johnny Fok and Tony Choi. The 15 others are Feng Chongyi, Sasha Gong, Elsa Chan Lai-chun, Ng Man-yan, Tsang Wai-fan, Chin Po-fun, Paul Ha, Hau Chung-yu, Ho Wing-yau, Keung Ka-wai, Tony Lam Chien-kan, Agnes Ng, Wong Chun-wah, Wong Sau-wo and Zhang Xinyan. They are not previously well-known.
August 4: The Hong Kong government cancels the passports of 12 of those for whom arrest warrants and bounties were issued on July 25: Victor Ho, Chan Lai-chun, Tsang Wai-fan, Chin Po-fun, Paul Ha, Hau Chung-yu, Ho Wing-yau, Keung Ka-wai, Tony Lam, Agnes Ng, Wong Chun-wah, and Wong Sau-wo. They and four others targeted together with them on the same day, Feng Chongyi, Sasha Gong, Ng Man-yan, and Zhang Xinyan, are also prohibited from engaging in certain financial and business dealings.
August 13: The father of Alan Keung Ka-wai is detained for interrogation by national security police in Hong Kong, the first relative of an overseas Hong Konger targeted in the batch of 19 on July 25 known to have been questioned.
August 18: The sister of Chin Po-fun is detained for interrogation by national security police in Hong Kong, the second relative of an overseas Hong Konger targeted in the batch of 19 on July 25 known to have been questioned.
August 20: News emerges that the Hong Kong government has terminated the pension of Chin Po-fun. She is a retired civil servant who worked in the Correctional Services Department. She says she received about HK$9,000 a month in pension and reports that last month, her HSBC account, through which she received her pension, had been frozen.
August 26: A 19-year-old is charged with "doing with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention" (ie, sedition) for promoting a “subversive” overseas group; namely, Hong Kong Parliament, which the July 25 arrest warrants and bounties target. She was remanded in custody pending trial. Hong Kong media report she is the ex-girlfriend of Tony Lam Chien-kan, one of the 19 for whom arrest warrants and bounties were issued on July 25. She allegedly promoted Hong Kong Parliament in videos, appearing on camera, while living in Canada. She then returned to Hong Kong, where she was arrested.
August 28: The father of Tony Lam is detained for interrogation by national security police in Hong Kong, the third relative of an overseas Hong Konger targeted in the batch of 19 on July 25 known to have been questioned.
September 11: The father of Ng Man-yuen is detained for interrogation by national security police in Hong Kong, the fourth relative of an overseas Hong Konger targeted in the batch of 19 on July 25 known to have been questioned.
September 16: The mother of Hau Chong-yu is detained for interrogation by national security police in Hong Kong, the fifth relative of an overseas Hong Konger targeted in the batch of 19 on July 25 known to have been questioned.
October 8: The trial of the father of Anna Kwok begins. He is charged with “attempting to deal with, directly or indirectly, any funds or other financial assets or economic resources belonging to, or owned or controlled by, a relevant absconder” under the 2024 national security law. He’s alleged to have attempted to cancel a life insurance policy with her name on it. This is the first trial of a relative in Hong Kong of an overseas Hong Konger for whom the National Security Department has issued an arrest warrant and bounty. It is also the first trial on this charge under the NSL.
October 9: The brother of Paul Ha Hoi-chun is detained for interrogation by the national security police in Hong Kong, the sixth relative of an overseas Hong Konger targeted in the batch of 19 on July 25 known to have been questioned.
In association with the arrest warrants and bounties issued for 34 overseas Hong Kongers, a total of at least 116 people have been targeted: wanted, arrested, detained for interrogation, under investigation, and/or having homes and offices raided:
Abroad:
-34 overseas Hong Kongers targeted with arrest warrants and bounties
-2 overseas Hong Kongers targeted with arrest warrants
In Hong Kong:
-51 family members detained for interrogation
-2 family members arrested
-8 former associates arrested
-1 former associate “under investigation,” home and office raided, detained twice
-4 former associates detained for interrogation
-4 arrested for providing financial assistance to two wanted overseas Hong Kongers
-12 arrested for “colluding with foreign forces” (unclear how closely related to the arrest warrants and bounties)
-2 others (identities unknown) detained for interrogation
-1 person’s home raided in his absence
In all, 17 of the 34 overseas Hong Kongers—Nathan Law, Christopher Mung Siu-tat, Dennis Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Anna Kwok, Ted Hui, Frances Hui, Simon Cheng, Chung Kin-wah, Carmen Lau, Joe Tay, Alan Keung, Chin Po-fun and Tony Lam Chien-kan, Ng Man-yuen, Hau Chong-yu and Paul Ha Hoi-chun—are known to have had family members detained for interrogation.
In all, three of the 34 overseas Hong Kongers are known to have had former associates arrested or detained for interrogation: Nathan Law had former associates arrested and detained for interrogation. Chung Kim-wah had a former associates investigated and other associates detained for interrogation. Tony Lam Chien-kan’s ex-girlfriend was arrested.
In all, one of the 34 overseas Hong Kongers, Anna Kwok, has had close family members arrested.
It is possible that others have also been detained or targeted in other ways without public knowledge.
Commentary
Note: The below commentary has yet to be updated to reflect the most recent batch of arrest warrants and bounties announced on July 25, 2025.
The issuance of arrest warrants and bounties by the Hong Kong national security police should be understood within the context of the wide-ranging and systematic crackdown taking place in Hong Kong on basic human rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of association and political participation. In this context, they directly affect a small proportion of the overall number of people persecuted but at the same time, this form of repression—transnational repression—represents a “new frontier” for the Chinese Communist Party and the authoritarian Hong Kong government in regard to the specific targeting of Hong Kongers abroad.
The Hong Kong diaspora community is vibrant and has grown rapidly in recent years due to the crackdown in Hong Kong. Some 300,000 Hong Kongers have emigrated within the last four years. This community has up to now largely been beyond the control of the CCP. In contrast, over the decades, the CCP has developed a number of mechanisms and methods to surveil, spy on, influence and control Chinese, Tibetan and Uyghur communities. A Hong Kong diaspora which is strongly pro-democracy and pro-freedom represents a relatively new challenge to the CCP.
Of the 34 targeted, supposedly because they are suspected of having committed national security offenses, 13 reside in the UK (Nathan Law, Christopher Mung Siu-tat, Finn Lau, Simon Cheng, Johny Fok, Tony Choi, Carmen Lau, Tony Chung, Chloe Cheung, Chung Kim-wah, Tsang Wai-fan, Chin Po-fun and Ho Wing-yau); six reside in the US (Dennis Kwok, Anna Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Frances Hui, Joey Siu and Sasha Gong); five reside in Canada (Victor Ho, Joe Tay, Keung Ka-Wai, Tony Lam and Elsa Chan Lai-chun); four reside in Taiwan (Paul Ha Hoi-chun, Hau Chung-yu, Wong Chung-wah, and Ng Man-yuen) and four reside in Australia (Ted Hui, Kevin Yam and Victor Wong Sau-wo and Feng Chongyi). These also happen to be the places outside of Hong Kong with the largest Hong Kong communities. And it is most likely no coincidence that the country most targeted, the UK, has also seen the largest recent immigration of Hong Kongers, upwards of some 200,000, thanks to its BN(O) Visa Scheme. In addition, one resides in Germany (Agnes Ng) and one in Thailand (Zhang Xinyan).
The Hong Kong government’s decisions over which people to target can appear somewhat random or scattershot, though there is some apparent rationale. Some appear to be among those the regime regards as among the most outspoken in their advocacy for a free Hong Kong and criticism of the CCP and Hong Kong government. These would include Nathan Law, Finn Lau, Simon Cheng, Joey Siu, Ted Hui and Kevin Yam. Some appear to be targeted at least partially because of their involvement with leading Hong Kong advocacy groups. These include Anna Kwok and Carmen Lau of Hong Kong Democracy Council; Frances Hui and Chloe Cheung of Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation; and Christopher Mung Siu-tat of Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor. Still others appear to have made the list due to their perceived influence on Hong Kongers’ views via social media channels, in particular, YouTube. These would include Johny Fok, Tony Choi, Elmer Yuen, Victor Ho and Joe Tay. Tay was also targeted just as he was starting his campaign to run for office in Canadian elections, raising the prospect of attempted election interference. Four of those targeted are citizens of foreign countries. Joe Tay and Dennis Kwok are Canadian. Joey Siu is American. Kevin Yam is Australian. There also appears to be an ethnic dimension: Nineteen-year-old Chloe Cheung of CFHK was targeted instead of, say, Mark Clifford, who has a more senior position in that organization and has been very active and outspoken.
The arrest warrants and bounties are a significant new effort to target the Hong Kong diaspora. They aim to weaken, fragment, frighten and exert greater influence and control over it. The effort is intended to drive a wedge between Hong Kongers abroad and Hong Kongers in Hong Kong as well as among Hong Kongers in the diaspora. It’s a signal that those targeted are “toxic” and one may face consequences for any association with them, including monetary donations. The arrest warrants and bounties also act as a warning to others: you too may end up wanted if you persist in your overseas activism. Not only that, your family in Hong Kong may be targeted.
Indeed, a key component of the effort is what might be termed “hostage taking”: the regime intends to send a message to Hong Kongers abroad that their families, friends and associates in Hong Kong can be punished for their actions. The regime seeks to control the behavior of Hong Kongers abroad by holding this prospect (in the form of an implied threat) over them.
Besides that, many Hong Kongers who reside abroad would like to maintain the option of returning to Hong Kong to visit and to see relatives and friends. If they face the prospect of arrest for their actions abroad, this may make them think twice about what risks they are willing to take.
On the one hand, it seems a rather high-risk strategy by the CCP and Hong Kong government. Indeed, they have suffered highly negative press coverage and denunciations by several governments as a result. In short, it makes them look evil and authoritarian when they’re also trying to preserve good-enough relations with the West to facilitate trade at a time when the Chinese economy is not at its best. But they appear to have wagered the risk is worth it. With each successive batch of arrest warrants and bounties, there has been less press coverage. And besides denouncing transnational repression, host governments have so far taken no concrete action to counter the arrest warrants and bounties. Plus, there are signs of decreasing political activism among the Hong Kong diaspora. The extent to which that may be attributable to the arrest warrants and bounties versus other factors such as the passage of time since the 2019 protests is debatable, but more than a few Hong Kongers abroad have attested to a chilling effect.
In this sense, the regime may regard the arrest warrants and bounties as the most cost-efficient and effective of acts it can take for the time being to quell the diaspora. It has yet to develop a united front network planted within Hong Kong diaspora communities as it has in Chinese diaspora communities in order to surveil and control. And there are few other mechanisms of control immediately at its disposable. It has tried at times to block certain websites in Hong Kong, such as HKDC’s and Hong Kong Watch’s, and also to get overseas internet service providers to cease hosting Hong Kong freedom sites, such as Hong Kong Charter 2021’s, but these efforts have seemed half-hearted and scattershot. So far, the arrest warrants and bounties on overseas Hong Kongers, and the concomitant hostage-taking in Hong Kong, appear to be their most effective mechanism.
For this reason, the responses of host governments are key in counter-acting the measure. In general, Western governments have been slow to come to terms with transnational repression perpetrated by the CCP and its allies and proxies. At the same time, decades of CCP efforts to influence Western politicians, officials, business people and cultural insitutions have made many in positions of power less inclined to recognize let alone counter transnational repression. When US and California government officials and the US business establishment get together to fete Xi Jinping in San Francisco, it is not surprising that no effective political or law enforcement efforts are taken to address the wave of attacks on protesters by CCP proxies there. (See this report for details.)
Up to now, the US government at federal level has shown some awareness and understanding and expressed concern about CCP transnational repression, and other governments have expressed concern, but there has been little action in response to specific acts of TNR, and at local levels of government and law enforcement, there is little awareness and understanding, let alone action. When Chloe Cheung said in a recent interview that the extent of assistance she received from the UK government amounted to a self-protection handbook sent by the police and advice to call 999, that kind of sums it up.
Essentially, both political and law enforcment action needs to be taken.
Host governments need to tell the CCP and Hong Kong governments directly and in no uncertain terms that the arrest warrants and bounties are unacceptable, and if they do not cease, there will be concrete consequences. Ten Hong Kongers in the UK have been targeted, and yet after the most recent batch involving four living in the UK, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves went off to China to court the CCP as part of her government’s “meaningful dialogue” with the regime. In terms of messaging, what the CCP hears is, in spite of any “strong words” to the contrary, it can do what it likes without fear of consequences. The UK government might have instead told China it was suspending approval of its proposed new embassy in Tower Hamlets, London until the arrest warrants and bounties against all ten Hong Kongers residing in the UK are revoked.
Departments of Justice must prioritize addressing transnational repression and develop expertise, as well as ways and means, to do so, especially given that there are virtually no laws criminalizing TNR specifically. There needs to be training of law enforcement agencies at all levels, from national to local, on how to protect those at risk of and targeted for TNR and how to hold those responsible accountable.
On December 24, 2024, Chung Kim-wah was one of those targeted with an arrest warrant and bounty. He is among the most politically moderate of people in the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, an old-style sort who simply supports genuine universal suffrage for Hong Kongers. The regime said he was suspected of “inciting secession.” He just had to shake his head and laugh, saying, “Anyone who knows me knows I’m just about the last person who would do that.” Since the regime’s announcement, it’s targeted five of his relatives and three of his associates in Hong Kong. When he left Hong Kong in 2022 after reportedly being questioned by national security police, he wrote, “I was born and raised in Hong Kong. A vast majority of my loved ones are in Hong Kong. I view Hong Kong as the place that cultivated me, and since I was young, I have made it my ambition to contribute to Hong Kong and improve society. Now I can only hope that the skies will be broader, the air fresher … and that I don’t have to think about whether the red lines that move arbitrarily will one day target me.” Little did he know.
