Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council is calling for Hong Kong to release trustees of a relief fund who were arrested under the national security law. The council released this statement in a letter on Wednesday night, criticizing the Hong Kong justice system.
Hong Kong authorities have arrested five trustees of the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. The trustees established the fund in 2019 to provide financial aid and legal assistance to pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. Police arrested the trustees on the charge that they colluded with foreign forces.
Mainland Affairs Council spokesperson Chiu Chui-cheng says that the arrests are an attack on basic liberties and human rights.
Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng says that Hong Kong used to be a beacon of freedom and prosperity. However, he says the national security act has led to many human rights violations over the past few years.
Lo says he hopes that Hong Kong can stand on the side of its own people and protect them, instead of attacking their right to freedom.