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Chinese authorities have confirmed the arrests of multiple Hong Kong residents after setting up a checkpoint on the 55-km (34 mi) bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China.
The measure was instituted as part of security arrangements for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s upcoming trip to Macau, which will on Dec. 20 celebrate the 20th anniversary since its handover from Portuguese rule in 1999.
Chinese police confirmed on Dec. 16 that they arrested a Hong Kong man surnamed Zhong when he tried to travel to Macau by bus. According to the police, Zhong is a key member of a smuggling gang.
A number of other Hong Kong residents were also arrested while travelling on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau (HKZM) Bridge after the authorities set up the checkpoint on Dec. 10. Police have confirmed that the suspects are being charged in mainland China.
The arrests and checkpoint have elicited fears that they are part of communist China’s broader push to clamp down on the rights Hong Kong has under the “one country, two systems” arrangement.
The HHZM Bridge was completed in early 2018. Connecting the two special administrative regions and Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, it is the longest bridge in the world. Residents of Hong Kong and Macau do not need to show internal visas to travel between the two former colonies.
Hong Kong, which reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, has been the site of massive public unrest over the Chinese Communist Party’s increasing influence over the city and its civil institutions. Pro-democracy demonstrations sparked by a controversial now-withdrawn extradition bill are now in their seventh month.
Arrests
Police from Guangdong, the province bordering Hong Kong and Macau, said on social media that Zhong, the suspect arrested on Dec. 15, was involved with a gang that in 2012 had smuggled cell phones between Shenzhen, Guangdong, and Hong Kong.
Earlier, on Dec. 9, the Guangdong provincial public security bureau issued a notice saying that they would set up a checkpoint the next day in preparation for the 20th anniversary of Macau’s handover. The checkpoint will remain in effect until Dec. 22.
In at least one case, the Hong Kong authorities were not aware that one of the city’s residents had been detained.
On Dec. 14, a Hong Kong man went to Tsing Yi police station to file a missing persons report. He said that his father had taken a bus via the bridge to Macau in the afternoon of Dec. 13.
But when the bus arrived at the bridge’s East Artificial Island, the father texted the son on WhatsApp, saying the bus had been stopped by mainland police. Then the father sent another text saying that he had been detained. After that, the man couldn’t reach his father.
The Hong Kong police did not seem to know that the man’s father had been arrested. When the man went to the police in Macau, they were also unaware of the case.
The East Artificial Island of the HKZM Bridge is administered as part of mainland China.
Denied Entry
On the afternoon of Dec. 16, a reporter from Hong Kong Now News was denied entry into Macau by mainland police.
Now News reported that the reporter had registered and was approved by the Macau government to report the events of the upcoming handover anniversary.
The reporter and his cameraman took a bus as planned, and didn’t meet any trouble when they left Hong Kong. At the checkpoint at the East Artificial Island of HKZM, the reporter presented his Hong Kong identification and Mainland Travel Permit to the mainland police.
The cameraman passed the check smoothly, but the police asked the reporter about the purpose of his visit, checked his luggage, and asked him to wait.
When asked for details, the police said told the reporter that couldn’t go to Macau in the next several days, but didn’t supply a reason. About three hours later, the police arranged for the journalist to take a bus back to Hong Kong.
This article is from the Internet:Hongkongers Detained By Mainland Chinese Police While En Route to Macau
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