A pro-democracy activist opposing China’s London mega-embassy alleges retaliatory raids on her Hong Kong relatives.

By Abul Taher | The Daily Mail

Summary

A woman who took part in a protest against China’s new ‘mega-embassy’ in London has claimed the regime’s security police retaliated with dawn raids on her family in Hong Kong.

Exiled in the U.K., Hong Kong activist Carmen Lau faced transnational retaliation after protesting China’s planned 5.5-acre London embassy in February 2024. 

In a speech, Lau argued that allowing Beijing to build such a large embassy sends out the ‘wrong message’ that Britain welcomes authoritarian regimes. Within 48 hours, Hong Kong security police raided her elderly aunt and uncle’s homes at dawn in Hong Kong, interrogating them for six hours about her financial ties and family connections. After their release, Lau believes police used information gleaned to arrest a second aunt a week later, who was also questioned for hours.

Simultaneously, anonymous leaflets offering a £100,000 bounty for Lau’s capture were distributed to her U.K. neighbors.

A former Hong Kong district councillor, Lau fled to the U.K. five years ago and secured asylum after she was surveilled by Chinese authorities for her pro-democracy activism.

Lau warns China’s planned ‘mega-embassy’ for London will include underground facilities that could enable covert interrogations or detention. U.K. police have advised Lau to avoid public events due to safety risks, which suggests Beijing’s use of familial targeting and diplomatic infrastructure to suppress dissent globally is working.

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