I have a bounty on my head in Hong Kong – why won’t the British government stand up to China?

Like Jimmy Lai, Chloe Cheung has been charged with ‘collusion’ by Hong Kong’s National Security Police and branded a ‘fugitive’. She’s chosen to speak out about how China is being emboldened to target pro-democracy activists living overseas – and says that Britain is to blame

British weakness has emboldened Beijing to petition proxies to act on the HK$1m bounties (around £100,000) Hong Kong’s National Security Police placed on me and 18 of my fellow activists living overseas.

In total, 10 of us live in the UK, making this country an area of focus for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s escalating repression of Hong Kong activists – and a test bed of new tactics to export authoritarianism.

In Hong Kong, the police call us “fugitives”, but none of us escaped. We left Hong Kong freely and have since been retroactively charged with national security offences. Yet I stand accused of “colluding with foreign forces” for my work with the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation in London.

The “collusion” charge is purposefully vague, so it can be levied at just about anyone for meeting, as I often do in the course of my advocacy work, diplomats, journalists, or politicians. Jimmy Lai, a British citizen who has been imprisoned for more than 1,500 days in Hong Kong without a verdict, is on trial for the same “offence”. Throughout his trial, prosecutors have presented his messages with journalists and politicians as “evidence” of wrongdoing. Telling the truth about Hong Kong’s crackdown on freedom in his capacity as the former owner of the pro-democracy newspaper Apply Daily is now sufficient to “endanger” national security in autocratic Hong Kong.

With a price on our heads, the CCP has turned to prompting proxies – ordinary British citizens – to do their dirty work for them. Neighbours of exiled activists in the UK have recently received letters urging them to “bring him or her” to the Chinese embassy. Last week, mosques near the Australia-based Hong Kong activist Ted Hui’s residence received leaflets falsely accusing him of “siding with Israel to wage war against Islamic terrorism”.

The CCP strategy is simple: leverage greed and hate to export repression. A million dollars to betray a neighbour, to turn communities against Hong Kong activists. Moreover, these letters, which were posted from Hong Kong, clearly incentivise kidnap.

In Australia, Penny Wong, the minister of foreign affairs, issued a vociferous response to this blatant foreign interference and the Australian police are investigating the source of the letters. In the UK, by contrast, the authorities have not even issued a warning indicating that acting on the letter is illegal and will lead to police intervention. As Australia-based Hong Kong activist Kevin Yam said on social media, the “UK’s hitherto tepid responses to similar incidents [has] emboldened authoritarian oppressors’ minions to try their luck in Australia against Ted Hui and me”.

The government’s failure to stand up to CCP overreach does not end there. One day after meeting with me and several other bountied Hong Kongers, it was made public that David Lammy had written to Keir Starmer to push through plans for a new Chinese mega-embassy in London, which will be the largest diplomatic outpost in Europe – 10 times the size of the current facility – including up to 225 residential units to accommodate Chinese diplomatic staff. This will surely facilitate more surveillance and intimidation. The government knows this, yet still bends the knee and supports a plan that will undoubtedly compromise British values. The British government must listen to Hong Kong activists and local residents and stop the mega Chinese embassy plan.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir is bowing to Beijing as if nothing has happened. His government’s “Challenge, Compete, Collaborate” strategy is not working. Where is the challenge, save for ministers lamely raising Hong Kong and human rights as they parade to and from photo opportunities in Beijing? Britain has thus far gained little from these interactions. Rachel Reeves’ trip to China secured a pathetic £600m in trade deals over five years. If China values Britain so little, why does the UK seem so eager to effectively trade our national security for scraps?

Britain is not dealing with a “strategic partner” but an authoritarian threat. There is no “win-win” with a regime intent on silencing critics and corrupting democracies. Britain emboldens Beijing by ignoring China’s repression on British soil. Sir Keir must be bold enough to call Xi Jinping and demand the revocation of our bounties. The government must be prepared to use diplomatic tools to hold aggressors accountable and send a strong message that UK sovereignty will be defended against foreign interference.

In December 2024, Hong Kong’s National Security Police issued Chloe Cheung, 20, with a HK$1 million bounty for ‘national security’ offences allegedly committed entirely while working in London as a pro-democracy activist