Update of April 15, 2025, 2:50 p.m.
The human rights group, Amnesty International, said on Tuesday that it opened a new section of Hong Kong abroad, three years after the closing of its office on the territory due to a Chinese civil society repression.
Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas (Aihko) will be led by Hong Kong diaspora activists operating from key international centers, notably in Australia, Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States, Amnesty said in a statement.
“The elimination of Hong Kong civil society was a tragedy for the city with more than 100 non -profit organizations and the media have closed or forced to flee,” the statement said. “We are now ready to intensify our efforts by building new communities of support motivated by the Hong Kong diaspora.”
Amnesty said that since pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019, more than 10,000 people, many students, have been arrested for protest-related activities. More than 300 people were arrested for alleged acts of “endangering national security”.
He said that Aihko is the very first section of Amnesty International founded and exploited entirely “in exile”.
“Being abroad offers us a certain degree of protection, allowing us to speak more freely and to engage in plea work. We are responsible for doing more to support those who stay in Hong Kong and continue their vital efforts,” said Cité Fernando Cheung, member of the board of directors and former legislator of Hong Kong.
The human rights group based in the United Kingdom was founded in 1961 by particularly emphasizing the fate of political prisoners. The Local Office of Amnesty International in Hong Kong ceased operations on October 31, 2021.
Aihko, which is officially registered in Switzerland, will focus on the defense of Hong Kongers human rights in Hong Kong and abroad, according to the press release.
Cheung said the threat to Hong Kongers extended beyond the territory.
“Because Hong Kong has undergone changes in recent years, the suppression is very real and many people are in fact very scary,” he told Rfa Mandarin. “There is also a lot of transnational abolition abroad and the influence of the Chinese government abroad.”
Joey Siu, also on the Aihko board of directors, told RFA: “We really want the international community and the local people of Hong Kong or the Hong Kong abroad know that even if our body must leave Hong Kong, our hearts and our plaid work will continue.” Siu is an eminent activist of rights which is sought by the government of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was once a bastion of media and free expression in Asia, qualities that have contributed to making it an international financial center and a regional center for journalism and civil society groups.
But the demonstrations in 2019 against Beijing’s encroachment on the freedoms of Hong Kong led to the adoption of a national security law in 2020 which smothered dissent, which makes life increasingly precarious for independent groups which criticized China.
Radio Free Asia closed in its Hong Kong office in March 2024, saying that the city’s recently modified national security law, also known as “article 23”, had raised security problems for its journalists and staff members.
Updated with the comments of the members of the board of directors.