A cardinal, pop star and academic were arrested in Hong Kong on Wednesday under national security law before being released on bail, local media reported, as Washington and the Vatican expressed their concern.
Retired Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, one of the top Catholic clerics in the financial metropolis, appeared to greet reporters in a video posted on Twitter as he left the police station in Chai Wan district.
Singer Denise Ho, an LGBTQ rights activist, who was arrested along with her, was also released on bail, according to a local media.
The United States has already driven China and Hong Kong release immediately [les militants] unjustly detained and prosecuted, as was Cardinal Joseph Zenthrough a statement Wednesday by Karine Jean-Pierre, deputy spokesperson for the White House, at a press briefing.
These prominent personalities, as well as academic Hui Po -keung, who was also arrested on Wednesday, similarly participated in the administration of a fund – now dissolved – intended to fund the defense of activists arrested during the main pro-democracy. protests that shook the former British colony in 2019.
Former bishop of Hong Kong where 400,000 Catholics live, Cardinal Zen is known for his silence of his words and for his relentless defense of political freedoms and democratic reforms.
In a press release published Wednesday night, the Holy See indicated it had learned with concern the news of Cardinal Zen’s arrest and followed the evolution of the situation with intense attention.
The prelate has always spoken out against any agreement between the Catholic Church and Beijing on the appointment of Chinese bishops, believing it was a betrayal of persecuted members of the unofficial Church in China.
The Vatican and China have had no diplomatic relations since 1951, but an agreement in the meantime historic was signed in September 2018 with Beijing on the appointment of bishops.
For decades, they were persecuted by the Chinese government, but they remained loyal to Rome and the pope. And now they are being asked to surrender?he lamented in an interview with the AFP in 2018.
Hui Po-keung was preparing for his part to join Europe for a university post before being arrested on Tuesday, two sources also indicated, requesting to remain anonymous.
Mr. Hui was arrested for collusion with foreign forces, according to a source, which is punishable by national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020 in response to large -scale protests last year. This law crushed all dissent in this Asian business center where expression was previously free.
Mr. Hui is one of the six directors of 612 Humanitarian Relief Fundto help the arrested protesters pay their legal and medical bills.
Other trustees include lawyer Margaret Ng as well as pro-democracy activist who is now on the railing Cyd Ho.
The fund was dismantled last year after national security police sought access to information about its donors and beneficiaries.
Shortly before the fund closed, Lingnan University in Hong Kong, where Mr. Hui had taught for more than 20 years, confirmed the end of his teaching contract, refusing to give reasons.
Academics who played prominent roles in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement often lost their university positions and struggled to find employment.
Source: Radio-Canada
