China pursues Australian activist

After the bonhomie and panda pampering during Anthony Albanese’s visit, China’s announcement of hefty bounties on 19 Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners living abroad, including in Australia, is a reminder of the unchanged, oppressive nature of the CCP regime in Beijing. Among those with a reward of $39,000 on his head for his capture and extradition is eminent University of Technology Sydney China studies professor Feng Chongyi. He is accused of being part of a “subversive organisation”, Hong Kong Parliament, a pro-democracy NGO established in Canada. Hong Kong police claim it has been seeking to “unlawfully overthrow and undermine the fundamental system” of the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities. Dr Feng described his inclusion on the list as “ridiculous” – not least because he has been an Australian citizen since May 2024.

As with Dr Feng’s friend, Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who is imprisoned in China after being sentenced to death on spying charges in February 2024, Australian citizenship appears to make no difference as the CCP pursues transnational regime critics. Adelaide lawyer and former Hong Kong pro-democracy politician Ted Hui and Melbourne-based lawyer and academic Kevin Yam already have substantial bounties on their heads. So do others among 150,000 Hong Kong people who have fled to Britain in recent years. The number fleeing should surprise no one. There can be no doubt about what awaits them if they remain in Hong Kong or China or put themselves within reach of the regime’s agents. Recently, 45 pro-democracy leaders were jailed in Hong Kong for what Human Rights Watch described as “baseless” national security charges. Jimmy Lai, 77, the brave Hong Kong newspaper publisher, is a constant reminder of the fate that befalls those who have the temerity to argue the cause of democracy and freedom in Hong Kong: he has been in solitary confinement, in a small cell with poor ventilation and no airconditioning for four years. In Britain, Chloe Chung, 19, lives with a “capture and bring her back alive” bounty of more than $400,000 on her head for protests she took part in at the age of 14.

As Foreign Minister Penny Wong said at the weekend, Australia has “consistently expressed our strong objections” to the extraterritorial application of Hong Kong’s national security legislation, and will continue to do so. Such is the harsh reality of what the CCP is and the threat it poses even to people in our midst, such as Dr Feng.

The bounties on the pro-democracy campaigners are a reminder that the Prime Minister’s visit did nothing to change Beijing’s ingrained culture of oppression and intolerance of dissent.