12 held HK citizens to face mainland laws

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that the 12 Hong Kong residents detained on the Chinese mainland after they were intercepted by Guangdong coast guards on a speedboat “should be dealt with according to the mainland laws” before the SAR government could intervene.

“Because if these Hong Kong residents were arrested for breaching mainland offenses, then they have to be dealt with according to mainland laws in accordance with the jurisdiction before any other things could happen,” Lam said.

Lam added that government’s representative office in Guangzhou, Guangdong’s capital, will look into ways to provide assistance and liaise with mainland authorities.

The 12 people, who are reported to have tried to flee to Taiwan last month, were arrested on August 23.

On August 26, the China coast guard announced that its Guangdong force had intercepted a vessel in Chinese waters off southeastern Hong Kong and arrested more than 10 people on suspicion of unlawfully crossing the border, and investigations were underway.

Local media in Hong Kong have identified some of them as facing prosecution for involvement in protests last year. One man, Andy Li, was recently arrested under a national security law. Another is a dual national with Hong Kong and Portuguese citizenship.

The Guangdong coast guard said two of the detained were surnamed Li and Tang, without providing further details.