HONG KONG/BEIJING: Former Hong Kong legislator and pro-democracy activist Ted Hui has been granted asylum in Australia, he announced in a Facebook post, more than four years after leaving Hong Kong where he faced multiple criminal charges linked to the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
Hui said he received official confirmation from Australia’s Department of Home Affairs on Friday that his asylum application had been approved. His wife, children, and parents were also granted visas.
“When people around me say ‘congratulations,’ I politely thank them, but deep inside I feel sorrow,” Hui wrote on Saturday. “How can one congratulate a political refugee who longs for his homeland? Immigrants can always return to visit their hometown, but exiles have no home.”
Australia’s Department of Home Affairs did not immediately respond to media inquiries sent outside office hours.
In a statement, the Hong Kong government condemned the move, saying it opposed “the harboring of criminals in any form by any country.” China’s foreign ministry also did not comment.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Beijing last month as part of ongoing efforts to improve bilateral relations.
Hui, formerly of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, fled the city in late 2020 after facing charges tied to the 2019 protests. In 2023, Hong Kong authorities accused him and seven others of national security offenses, including incitement to secession, and placed HK$1 million (US$127,782) bounties on each of them.
At the time, Australia criticized the move, voicing concern over the national security law. Meanwhile, pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai remains on trial in Hong Kong under the same Beijing-imposed legislation, facing charges of subversion and sedition.
Source: Reuters
