“I decided to not return to report [to the police], and probably I won’t return for the rest of my life.”
In a recent development, former deputy secretary-general of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy group Demosisto, Agnes Chow, who is currently studying in Toronto, Canada, announced on Dec. 3 via social media that she has decided not to return to Hong Kong to report to the national security police.
Ms. Chow was arrested by Hong Kong National Security Police in connection with the case of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai and is on bail pending trial. Ms. Chow left Hong Kong to study in Canada in September and was scheduled to report to the Hong Kong police in December. On her 27th birthday, she announced through social media that after careful consideration and taking into full account the situation in Hong Kong, her safety, and her physical and mental health, “I decided to not return to report [to the police], and probably I won’t return for the rest of my life,” she wrote.
Ms. Chow was a former spokesperson of the activist group Scholarism, and then a leader of the Hong Kong Demosisto Party together with Joshua Wong, and others. She was known as the “Goddess of Scholarism” and is fluent in Japanese. She has been to Japan to participate in activities such as discussion forums on Hong Kong’s political situation and media and has a certain reputation in Japan.
On Aug. 10, 2020, she was arrested by the Hong Kong National Security Police in connection with the case of former Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai. On Dec. 2, 2020, she was sentenced to 10 months in jail for “inciting others to participate in unauthorized assemblies” and other crimes.
Ms. Chow revealed in her statement that her period of incarceration had left her worried that she would “not be able to come out of prison again.” “I always think about the house searches by the national security police, sentencing, being handcuffed, stripp[ed] naked, and being bodily searched by disciplinary officers,” she added.
Since her release on June 12, 2021, Ms. Chow has been required to report to national security police regularly, with her passport confiscated and her travel restricted. Every three months, the National Security Bureau requires her to sign a “Notice of Detention
By Yi Ling
