The public housing unit occupied by the mother of wanted self-exiled activist Nathan Law has been reclaimed by the Hong Kong government.
Citing sources, local media outlets reported on Sunday that Law’s mother had been evicted from the subsidised housing unit she rented in Yat Tung estate. Responding to enquiries from HKFP, the Housing Department confirmed on Monday that the unit had been surrendered in June.
“According to the records, the unit had earlier fallen into rent arrears, violating the tenancy agreement,” the department said in an emailed Chinese response. “Therefore, our department issued an eviction notice in March this year to terminate the tenancy of said unit, and completed the relevant procedures to reclaim the unit in June.”
It did not respond to other questions, including how long the tenant had failed to pay the rent.
Asked by a lawmaker in 2002 about outstanding rent payments by public housing tenants, the government said the Housing Department would, on the 14th of the month issue a reminder to tenants who had not yet paid their rent for that month. If, by the 7th of the following month, tenants had still not paid rent for the previous month, the department would inform them that their lease might be terminated.
If rent remained unpaid at the end of the month, the department would notify tenants of the termination of their lease.
“Apart from reminding the tenants to pay rents on time, the staff will also try to understand the reasons for rent arrears and provide appropriate assistance or referral service if necessary, ” the government told lawmakers in 2009.
Tenants facing financial difficulties can consider applying for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), under which the government will cover the rent of public housing units.
Thirty-year-old activist Law, who currently lives in the UK, announced on July 2, 2020 – three days after the Beijing-imposed national security law came into effect – that he had left Hong Kong. He was granted asylum in April, 2021.
Law was a student leader during Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement in 2014, before co-founding the pro-democracy party Demosisto in 2016 alongside Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow. At the age of 23, Law won a seat in the 2018 Legislative Council election, becoming the youngest lawmaker in the city’s history.
The government has called Law a “fugitive” and a “modern-day traitor.” Last July, he was among eight overseas activists named as wanted by national security police over alleged offences under the security law. Each had a HK$1 million bounty placed on their heads.
After the arrest warrants were announced, security chief Chris Tang said that Hongkongers should see the “true colours” of the eight wanted democrats, adding that Law was a “modern-day Chinese traitor” and a cowardly “turtle hiding inside its shell.”
Law was also among six self-exiled activists who had theirpassports cancelled last Wednesday under a new security law, known locally as Article 23.
All six will have any business dealings in Hong Kong cancelled, and it will be unlawful to provide them with funds, financial assets, handle their economic resources, or have property dealings. “Funds” covers gold coins, cash, cheques, stocks and shares, deposits with financial institutions and dividends from property.
Law’s acquaintances in Hong Kong
Over the past year, Hong Kong-based family members and friends of the wanted activists have been taken away, questioned or arrested by Hong Kong police.
In early July last year, four men were arrested over allegedly supporting people living abroad who “endanger national security.” According to photos published by Ming Pao, police escorted Ivan Lam – who had been a former chairperson of Demosisto – out of an industrial building after searching it. Those arrested were later released on bail.
National security police raided the homes of Nathan Law’s mother, father and an elder brother and took the three away for investigation last July. The trio were released after giving statements.
Last August, Law’s sister-in-law was taken away for questioning.
In late May, a woman who was among seven arrested under the city’s new security law, was accused of violating the Beijing-imposed security law over funding overseas activist Nathan Law and others.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
Separate to the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of to up to 16 days, and suspects’ access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city’s opposition-free legislature.
The law has been criticised by rights NGOs, Western states and the UN as vague, broad and “regressive.” Authorities, however, cited perceived foreign interference and a constitutional duty to “close loopholes” after the 2019 protests and unrest.
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