Wong was already in prison and serving a 13.5-month sentence for his role in demonstrations during the 2019 pro-democracy protest movement. On Thursday, a post on Wong’s verified Facebook page said he had been transferred from prison to a detention center where police officers questioned him.
The post claimed Wong’s lawyer had been unable to reach him when police took statements.
Police on Thursday confirmed Wong’s arrest to CNN, as well as the arrest of a second activist, 47-year-old Tam Tak-chi. The two had been arrested for “undermining state power,” police said.
Wong’s arrest is the latest to have taken place under the auspices of Beijing’s new national security law, which on Wednesday saw police arrested 53 during dawn raids on democracy activists across the city.
The law criminalizes acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces and carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment. Such vague parameters have given authorities extensive powers to crack down on government opponents, while Beijing continues to tighten its control over the semi-autonomous city.
Hong Kong officials had previously promised that the law would be in effect and only target a small number of fringe activists. However, critics argue that since its introduction, the law has been used to forcibly exterminate the city’s previously vibrant pro-democracy movement.
Primaries are a normal feature in democracies around the world. At the time of the vote in Hong Kong, the democratic primary in the United States, won by President-elect Joe Biden, was not yet completed.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have held such votes in the past, in an effort to match the organization and discipline of the rival pro-Beijing camp and avoid splintering support.
City security secretary John Lee said on Wednesday that the organizers of the primary election were trying to “paralyze the Hong Kong government” by securing a majority in the legislature.
Of the 53 detainees who were arrested on Wednesday, 52 are now on bail, but will have to turn in travel documents and report back to police in early February, police told CNN.
The surviving activist, former pro-democracy lawmaker Wu Chi-wai, was taken to court on Thursday after police said he had not handed over all travel documents when applying for bail in a previous case.
Lester Shum, a district councilor who was among those released on bail, called the mass arrest “ridiculous”.
“I think it’s absurd because it doesn’t claim that I said anything after participating in the Legislative Council election. It only accuses me of subversion because we’ve all participated in the Democratic primary,” he said.
Among those arrested was American lawyer John Clancey, who was released on bail without charge. Clancey, an associate at a Hong Kong law firm, was also treasurer of Power for Democracy, a Hong Kong pro-democracy group that helped organize the election stock.
His US passport has been confiscated by police, he told CNN on Thursday. His firm, HO TSE WAI & Partners, was also raided by police on Thursday, his partner said. Clancey is the first foreign citizen without a Hong Kong passport to be arrested under national security law.
The mass arrests were strongly condemned by several countries. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US would consider sanctions in response to the arrests, specifically pointing out Clancey’s arrest. “I am also shocked by the news of the arrest of a US citizen as part of this political crackdown,” he said in a statement. “The United States supports the Hong Kong people and anyone who longs for freedom.”
Other governments also expressed criticism and concern about the arrests, including the United Kingdom, the European Union and Taiwan.
“National Security Law is being used to quell dissent and suppress the exercise of human rights and political freedoms protected by Hong Kong’s Basic Law, as well as by international law and China’s international obligations and obligations,” he said. the spokesman for the European Commission, Peter Stano. Wednesday, adding that the EU has called for the “immediate release” of those arrested.