Hong Kong teen activist Tony Chung detained and charged with 'secession'

Hong Kong

Hong Kong teen activist Tony Chung Hon-lam was detained near the US consulate on Tuesday by the local authorities dressed in plain clothes while he was seated at a coffee shop opposite the consulate.

Chung is a 19-year-old pro-democracy activist who was one of the first public figures to be booked under the controversial Hong Kong security law, imposed in Hong Kong by China in July 2020.

He was reportedly visiting in the US consulate to apply for political asylum in the United States after he has been reportedly facing backlash by the local and Chinese authorities for being an active pro-democracy activist.

Chung was arrested along with two other members, Yanni Ho and William Chan, of the student pro-independence group. He has been charged with 'secession' in Court Number 3 of West Kowloon Magistrate’s Courts.

He has been earlier accused of being a part of and leading an organisation that has been deemed as breaking rules by vowing to fight for the independence of Hong Kong and was detained on these charges but was released on bail.

Under Hong Kong's national security law, secession, subversion of the central government, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces is punishable with charges leading upto prison for life.

The other two detained activists have been released on bail but Chung was denied bail, a tweeted by the student activists group, Studentlocalism.