‘Do not think one has no liability for stuff posted on the internet,’ Li Kwai-wah of the Hong Kong National Security Department said at a news conference.
Photo: Kin Cheung/Associated PressHONG KONG—A newly formed national-security police squad arrested four students on Wednesday for alleged secessionist activities on social media, the first such swoop on opposition activists since China imposed the controversial national-security legislation four weeks ago.
Three men and a woman, ranging in age from 16 to 21 years old, were arrested at locations across the city, according to Li Kwai-wah, a senior superintendent of the newly established National Security Department. Those arrested were part of a group that made declarations on social media advocating independence, he said. He declined to name the group or the arrested individuals.
An activist group called Studentlocalism said on Twitter that its former convener Tony Chung Hon-lam was among those arrested and was taken away from his home along with evidence bags gathered by police.
Formed in 2016 by mostly middle-school students, Studentlocalism publicly called for Hong Kong’s independence, but the group said it was disbanding its operation in Hong Kong on June 30, the day China imposed its national-security law on the city. The legislation outlaws secessionist activities as well as terrorism, sedition and colluding with foreign forces to interfere with national security.
The group said at the time that it had simultaneously formed divisions in Taiwan, the U.S. and Australia that would continue to push for Hong Kong’s independence.
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Before Wednesday, police had made 11 arrests under the new law, and charged one person, all related to street protests against the law in July. The wider effect of the law has been to crush many opposition voices in the city as Beijing moves quickly to ensure the city follow its edicts after a year of social unrest.
Foreign criticism of the law has intensified in countries such as the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, while the European Union on Tuesday imposed sanctions on China over its treatment of Hong Kong. China has responded by accusing other nations of interfering in its domestic affairs and saying its law is in line with those of many nations.
So-called localist groups fared well at recent unofficial primaries held by the pro-democracy camp to determine candidates for coming legislative elections. There are doubts, however, as to whether the Sept. 6 election will go ahead after some pro-Beijing figures called for the ballot to be postponed a year following a resurgence of Covid-19 infections that has prompted the government to tighten social distancing rules in the city.
Sam Cheung, a pro-democracy campaigner who serves as a local district councilor, said in an interview that by targeting little-known students, the goal of authorities “is to annihilate Hong Kong’s future.”
“It’s definitely strengthening the chilling effect,” he said from outside a police station in the district of Ma On Shan, where a national-security department is based and to where some of those arrested had already been sent. The arrests are the first batch made on national-security grounds outside a protest.
Mr. Li, the policeman, said that the arrestees had made declarations on social media to form a group that aims to establish an independent Hong Kong nation, and that the group said it supported all means of fighting and called for others to join its cause. Mr. Li said the online speeches were made after July 1 and provisions in the legislation meant it applied to declarations made overseas.
“Do not think one has no liability for stuff posted on the internet,” Mr. Li said during a press briefing late Wednesday.
Previously, 11 people had been arrested on national-security terms during two protests. In one of those cases, 23-year-old Tong Ying-kit was charged with inciting secession as well as terrorism acts. Mr. Tong was riding a motorbike during a July 1 protest, carrying a banner that said “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time,” a popular chant among protesters since July last year.
The others were arrested for possessing items with the same slogan, which local officials have said amounts to promoting independence, or flags with the words “Hong Kong independence.” All 10 are currently free on bail, according to lawyers involved in their cases.
It couldn’t be learned how many members Student Localism has attracted. It was one of several localism groups that sprouted after the Umbrella Movement in 2014.
Mr. Chung, 19, former convener of the disbanded organization, was an active participant during long-running antigovernment street protests last year sparked by a since withdrawn extradition bill. He faces criminal trial for allegedly damaging a national flag during an early protest against the proposed extradition law in May last year.
Write to Wenxin Fan at Wenxin.Fan@wsj.com
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