WASHINGTON, D.C., May 7, 2025 – Last week, Hong Kong authorities arrested US-based Hong Kong democracy activist Anna Kwok’s father and brother under the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, colloquially known as the “Article 23 law.” The 68-year-old Mr. Kwok has now been charged and remanded to prison. We, the undersigned diaspora organizations from Hong Kong, Tibet, East Turkistan, and other communities targeted by the Chinese Communist Party, stand in firm solidarity with Anna and her family in the face of this unprecedented and deeply troubling development.

According to reports, the charges relate to Mr. Kwok’s alleged handling of life insurance policy paperwork supposedly involving his daughter. Even if this were true, it could not legitimately be considered a crime. That such behavior is now being prosecuted as a national security offense underscores the increasingly authoritarian nature of Hong Kong’s legal system and the alarming breadth of the Article 23 law.

This marks the first time family members of any overseas Hong Kong activist with a bounty on their head have been arrested. Anna is among the 19 overseas pro-democracy activists who have been labeled “wanted” by Hong Kong’s national security police and placed under a HK$1 million bounty. This is a price on her freedom and safety, simply for peaceful advocacy abroad.

This incident also marks the first known use of the funding-related criminal provision under the Article 23 law, and the first time authorities have brought charges under the new offenses it created, rather than its updated sedition provision. These arrests represent a historic and dangerous expansion of the Hong Kong government’s political persecution under the pretext of national security.

Anna is a remarkable and principled woman, and we are proud to count her as a colleague, ally, and friend. Many of the organizations represented in this statement have worked closely with her over the years and know firsthand her courage, integrity, and tireless commitment to the people of Hong Kong. The targeting of her family is not only a violation of basic human rights; it is an attack on the values and communities we all defend, and we stand in solidarity in the face of this.

We call on governments around the world to condemn these arrests in the strongest possible terms, and to take concrete steps to protect those abroad who are being targeted through transnational repression. In particular, we call on the US government to offer strong support for Anna and to take steps to deter transnational repression against US residents. We likewise call on all people of conscience to recognize this for what it is: a blatant attempt to punish political dissent by threatening the loved ones of those who speak out.

We will not be silenced. We stand alongside Anna and her family, and we will not stop fighting for freedom, dignity, and justice for those harmed by the Chinese Communist Party.

Signed,

1. Alliance for Citizens Rights
2. Assembly of Citizens’ Representatives, Hong Kong (ACRHK)
3. Australia Tibet Council
4. Bonham Tree Aid
5. Canada-Hong Kong Link
6. Chicago Solidarity with Hong Kong 芝援香港
7. Coalition of Students Resisting CCP (Coalition SRC)
8. Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation
9. DC4HK–Washingtonians Supporting Hong Kong
10. Democracy for Hong Kong (D4HK)
11. European Hong Kong Diaspora Alliance (EHKDA)
12. First Freedom Foundation
13. Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong (SWHK)
14. Freiheit für Hongkong e.V. (FFHK)
15. Fundación Para la Libertad de Nicaragua
16. Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities
17. Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete – Portugal
18. Hong Kong Aid 港援
19. Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights
20. Hong Kong Committee in Norway
21. Hong Kong Forum, Los Angeles
22. Hong Kong Human Rights Front (Taiwan) 香港人權陣線（台灣）
23. Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor (HKLRM)
24. HongKonger Community Center Foundation (HKCC)
25. Hongkongers in Britain (HKB)
26. Hongkongers in Deutschland e.V. (HKDE)
27. Hong Kongers in San Diego
28. Hong Kongers in San Francisco Bay Area
29. Humanitarian China
30. Human Rights in China (HRIC)
31. International Tibet Network
32. Lady Liberty Hong Kong (LLHK)
33. Lamp of Liberty
34. Le Comité pour la Liberté à Hong-Kong
35. Lion Rock Café
36. NGO DEI
37. No Business With Genocide
38. Northern California Hong Kong Club
39. North East Hongkongers Club (UK)
40. NY4HK
41. Philly4HK
42. Power to Hongkongers
43. Re-Water CIC
44. Save Tibet (Austria)
45. Scottish Hongkongers
46. SEArious for HKG
47. Students for a Free Tibet
48. Students for Falun Gong
49. Students for Hong Kong (s4hk)
50. The Hong Kong Scots
51. The Tibet Support Committee, Denmark
52. Tibet Solidarity
53. Tibet Support Group Ireland
54. Toronto Hong Kong Parent Group
55. Torontonian HongKongers Action Group
56. TX4HK – Texans Supporting Hong Kong
57. Uyghur American Association
58. Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement
59. Visual Artists Guild
60. Voluntary Tibet Advocacy Group (V-TAG)
61. We The Hongkongers
62. Women’s Rights in China (中國婦權)
63. World Hong Kong Forum (WHKF)
64. World Liberty Congress

Download a PDF copy of the letter here. Anna Kwok Solidary Statement