Hong Kong vows to chase activist Agnes Chow

The government has vowed to pursue pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow ‘for life’ after she fled to Canada.

Pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow protesting in Hong Kong in 2017. Picture: AFP

The government has vowed to pursue pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, who was jailed for her role in massive 2019 protests, ‘for life’ after she fled to Canada and said she would not ­return to meet her bail conditions.

Ms Chow revealed on social media on Sunday that her decision came after “considering the situation in Hong Kong, my ­personal safety, my physical and mental health”.

On Monday night, the Hong Kong government condemned “the shameful acts of Chow … of absconding to avoid legal responsibilities”.

It said she was “completely ­devoid of integrity” and “her hypocrisy, disgrace and disregard for law and order are laid bare”.

“Fugitives will be pursued for life unless they turn themselves in.”

Ms Chow was one of the best-known young faces of the 2012, 2014 and 2019 protest movements against Beijing’s increasingly ­authoritarian rule in Hong Kong.

She spent about seven months behind bars for her role in a protest outside the city’s police headquarters in 2019, when huge crowds rallied week after week in the most serious challenge to China’s rule since Hong Kong’s 1997 handover from Britain.

On Sunday, she published two posts breaking the silence she had kept since she was released more than 2½ years ago.

She revealed that she had been allowed to leave for Canada in mid-September for university studies, but that she was required to return to Hong Kong later this month as part of her bail conditions.

Ms Chow wrote that, in early July, the police had offered to ­return her passport if she travelled with them to Shenzhen, China.

She agreed, and in mid-August spent a day with five police officers in the mainland city, where she was shown an exhibition of China’s achievements and the headquarters of tech giant ­Tencent

On Monday, police said they had returned Ms Chow’s passport because she could prove her ­admission to an overseas university and had been “co-operative” about reporting back.

AFP