Hong Kong pro-independence activist Honques Laus, who is currently seeking asylum in the UK and wanted under the national security law, said his bank account has been “terminated.”
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Laus said his Bank of China account was suspended on Dec. 24. He had HK$47.23 (US$6) to his name, he wrote.
“This shows that the Hong Kong and Chinese government is infringing upon the private property of Hongkongers, and undermining Hong Kong’s reputation as a financial center,” the activist said.
In July, Chinese state television issued arrest warrants for six pro-democracy activists living overseas who are suspected of violating the national security law. At 19, Laus—whose legal name is Lau Hong—is the youngest of the group.
He fled to the UK in late June, according to Apple Daily, taking a plane for the first time in his life. He said he did not tell his family or friends about his departure, and that his mother only learned his son was in exile in the UK from the news.
Laus became known in the city’s pro-democracy circle in 2017. While posing for a group photo with Chief Executive Carrie Lam at a student event, an expressionless Laus held up a phone displaying a “Hong Kong independence” photo.
That same year, he was arrested for carrying an air pistol near a protest at the Legislative Council. Explaining in court that the air pistol was for “self-defense” as he feared being attacked for his pro-independence views, Laus was charged for possessing an imitation firearm before his conviction was overturned during an appeal in 2019.
Since arriving in the UK, Laus has been actively lobbying foreign governments to support Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. In September, he wrote to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, calling on the country to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese leaders.
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