April 10, 2025 (Washington D.C.) – Today, Hong Kong’s national security police took the parents of Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation staffer and U.S. resident Frances Hui in for questioning in Hong Kong.
The CFHK Foundation condemns this unwarranted harassment of family members of Hong Kongers living abroad. Frances Hui cut ties with her family in 2020 before joining the CFHK Foundation in 2022 to fight for democracy and freedom in Hong Kong.
In December 2023, Hong Kong’s national security police issued an arrest warrant and HK$1 million bounty for Frances, citing her advocacy in the U.S., and in particular, her role in calling for sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials involved in the crackdown on Hong Kong’s civil liberties and freedoms.
The targeting of her parents comes just a week after the U.S. State Department announced targeted sanctions on six Hong Kong and Chinese officials and two days after the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices Certification Act, which aims to shutter Hong Kong’s de facto diplomatic outposts in the U.S., was reintroduced in Congress.
Frances Hui has not committed any crime and freely left Hong Kong to seek asylum in the United States following the imposition of the National Security Law. By placing a bounty on Frances and other U.S-based Hong Kong activists, the Hong Kong authorities are encouraging people to kidnap them on U.S. soil in return for a reward.
Frances Hui, CFHK Foundation Advocacy and Policy Coordinator, said:
“My parents and I have had no contact since I left Hong Kong in 2020. I’ve been financially independent ever since. The police arranged a crowd of media to photograph their exit from the police station — to humiliate them. This is a deliberate attempt to intimidate and silence me.
No one should have to endure this emotional blackmail for defending democracy and freedom. I will not let fear or guilt define my path. I will keep moving forward, fighting and speaking up to ensure that one day no one has to suffer this kind of repression for standing against authoritarianism.”
CFHK Foundation President Mark Clifford said:
“This is outrageous targeting of a young woman who has lived in the U.S. for the last five year and whose advocacy and freedom of speech is protected under U.S. laws. The CFHK Foundation will continue to support Frances and all those with the courage to speak out against the crimes being perpetrated in Hong Kong, and the low-class bullies who perpetrate them. We urge the U.S. government to continue to protect Frances and all those who are standing against the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on civil liberties and freedoms.”
