HK Pro-Democracy Body Won’t Comply With Police Request: SCMP

(Bloomberg) -- The Hong Kong group that organized the city’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil said it won’t comply with a police request to turn over information on its membership and finances, and it will hold a special meeting this month to vote on disbanding, the South China Morning Post reported.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patrotic Democratic Movements of China made the announcement on Sunday, two weeks after police issued letters to 12 members requesting information on the group’s activities and financing, according to the Post. 

Chow Hang-tung, vice-charperson of the alliance, said police did not give a reason for needing the information, only that it “suspects a body is a foreign agent,” according to the report. The alliance “will not provide the information requested,” the Post cited Chow as saying.

The Hong Kong Security Bureau said in a statement that it noticed an organization had stated its intention to refuse to comply with the police requirement to provide information under the National Security Law. Authorities would follow up, and to avoid legal risk, the group should “immediately turn back before it is too late,” it said.

Failing to provide information in time could lead to a fine of up to HK$100,000 (US$12,870) and six months’ imprisonment, the National Security Department said in a separate statement.

Hong Kong Liaison Office, Beijing’s main body overseeing the city, said in a statement on its website that the alliance is acting illegally and is nearing an end. “Any organization that is anti-China and disrupting Hong Kong will fall, and history will prove it,” it said.

The alliance will hold an extraordinary general meeting on Sept. 25 to vote on its disbandment, the Post reported.

Hong Kong police are investigating the alliance for possible violations of the security law, pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po reported last month, citing an unidentified person.

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