Chris Tang, Hong Kong’s commissioner of police, said his department was seeking information from mainland authorities about the coast guard’s detention of activists.
Photo: tyrone siu/ReutersHONG KONG—China’s coast guard detained a group of Hong Kong activists after intercepting a boat in the South China Sea en route to Taiwan, where the passengers planned to seek refuge from Beijing’s national-security crackdown.
The group, people familiar with the matter said, included Andy Li, an activist who had been arrested in Hong Kong two weeks ago during a swoop by a new national-security police unit that also raided the office of a newspaper. Mr. Li had been released on bail by police, who said he was being investigated for alleged ties to a dissident group suspected of colluding with foreign countries to interfere in Hong Kong affairs.
China’s coast guard has in the past stopped boats suspected in smuggling operations, but has rarely been involved in the arrest of pro-democracy activists fleeing the city by sea. The incident is likely to fuel tension with Taiwan, an island democracy that China claims as its territory, and highlights the extent to which China’s enforcement of its new national security law has put a chill on antigovernment activism in Hong Kong.
The attempted escape to Taiwan was reminiscent of Operation Yellowbird, when Western intelligence agencies and activists aided Tiananmen Square protesters trying to flee the mainland via Hong Kong—some of them by sea with the help of smugglers—while Chinese authorities tried to intercept them.
China’s coast guard said its Guangdong unit seized a speedboat in China’s territorial waters southeast of Hong Kong that was illegally crossing the maritime border on Sunday morning, and arrested more than 10 people, including one surnamed Li. The Guangdong coast guard declined to comment further when reached by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
Hong Kong’s police commissioner Chris Tang said he couldn’t confirm the report, which appeared late Wednesday on the China coast guard’s official microblog. Hong Kong police weren’t involved in the operation, and the department is still seeking information from mainland authorities, he said.
The whereabouts of Mr. Li and the others on board who were arrested isn’t known, and Mr. Li or a lawyer representing him couldn’t be reached. Radio Free Asia first reported Mr. Li’s arrest at sea.
Taiwan’s president has been a vocal supporter of Hong Kong protesters and the island has served as a temporary refuge for a number of Hong Kong protesters over the past year, some fleeing there after fearing they would be arrested on rioting or other charges. There is no extradition agreement between the two places.
Taiwan, about 500 miles from Hong Kong, is seen as an ally by many in Hong Kong in their fight for greater autonomy, while Chinese officials have accused Taiwan of helping foment unrest in the city. Widespread empathy in Taiwan for Hong Kong’s protesters helped Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen win re-election in January with the highest-ever vote tally since the island’s first presidential election in 1996.
Ms. Tsai had repeatedly expressed her support for the protest movement in Hong Kong since the antigovernment movement began in June last year. Ms. Tsai’s administration opened a dedicated liaison office in Taipei on July 1 to assist Hong Kongers seeking shelter to find jobs or study in Taiwan.
Taiwan authorities have said that those seeking help must enter Taiwan legally and they wouldn’t actively bring them in. Some activists in both places, however, have complained that the Taipei office only offers limited help, and due to the pandemic, Taiwan’s borders remained closed to nonessential travel, which makes it difficult for foreigners to land legally.
Mr. Li was arrested in Hong Kong on Aug. 10 for an alleged violation of China’s national security law, the legislation Beijing imposed on the city on June 30 to crush its lingering antigovernment movement, which had sought to push back against Beijing’s tightening grip.
He was among a group of 10 people, including Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai, arrested as part of an investigation into allegations of foreign collusion and fraud. Police alleged that some were involved in a group that had sought to persuade foreign countries to introduce sanctions on Hong Kong after the law took effect at the end of June.
Mr. Li was a volunteer for an advocacy group for Hong Kong’s movement called “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” After the Aug. 10 arrest, the group said the arrested suspects linked with the group had only supported it in November, and as such weren’t criminally liable as the national security law isn’t retroactive.
Bookseller Lam Wing-kee, one of the most high-profile figures who chose to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan last year, said the boat escape wasn’t a surprise to him and he would expect to see more people trying to escape Hong Kong after the security law went into effect last month.
Mr. Lam, who was once detained by Chinese authorities unhappy at political gossip books he sold, reopened his Causeway Bay Books bookstore in a Taipei hipster neighborhood in April. One month after the opening, the Taiwan president paid a surprise visit to Mr. Lam’s bookstore, leaving a handwritten note that said: “The free Taiwan supports the freedom of Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong police’s handling of charges against protesters are just like those in the mainland, said Mr. Lam, who was only released by Chinese authorities in 2016 after making a televised confession admitting his guilt.
“Wouldn’t you be scared if you were them?” he said of the protesters.
Write to Wenxin Fan at Wenxin.Fan@wsj.com and Joyu Wang at joyu.wang@wsj.com
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