Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, Agnes Chow has announced that she would jump police bail after being given permission to travel to Canada for further studies.

Ms Chow was jailed in 2020 for taking part in the anti-government protests of 2019, and was released in 2021.

She is still under investigation for "collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security".

"Maybe I won't return to Hong Kong for the rest of my life," she said.

In a post on social media published on Sunday to mark her 27th birthday, Ms Chow revealed that she was admitted by a university in Toronto earlier this year.

But in order to get her passport back, she had to go on a police-escorted trip to mainland China in August with five police officers - a trip she had no right to refuse.

"I felt as though I was under surveillance the whole time," she wrote.

She said she was shown an exhibition of China's achievements since the reform and opening up of China since the late 1970s, and the headquarters of the technology firm Tencent where she was asked to pose for photos.

"If I stay silent, those pictures might one day become evidence of my "patriotism" - that fear is so tangible," she wrote.

Ms Chow said when she returned to Hong Kong, she was also told to sign letters expressing remorse for all her past political actions, and also to thank the police for organising the trip, so that she could learn of "the motherland's marvellous developments".

Ms Chow was expected to report to the police again later this month as she is still under investigation in connection to pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai's trial on allegations of "collusion with foreign forces" to endanger China's national security.

She has not yet been charged.

She said her decision was made out of considerations of "Hong Kong's situation, my personal safety, my physical and mental health".

The Hong Kong police have not yet commented on Ms Chow's claims.

Ms Chow was one of the most prominent faces of the city's pro-democracy movement and was even nicknamed "the real Mulan", in reference to the legendary Chinese heroine who fought to save her family and country.

In 2020, she was featured on the BBC 100 Women list, which names 100 influential and inspirational women around the world every year and tells their stories.

Authorities in Hong Kong have cracked down on pro-democracy activists in the city since anti-government broke out in 2019, culminating in the implementation of the national security law in 2020.

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by Vicky Wong | BBC News

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