Exiled Hong Kong activist targeted by harassment campaign

A prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist living in the United Kingdom has been the subject of a campaign of harassment that includes letters containing fake, sexually explicit images of her sent from China to her neighbors.

Carmen Lau, 30, who fled Hong Kong four years ago, told the BBC she was “shocked” that the letters, delivered to addresses in Maidenhead, Kent, included her name and images appearing to be naked or in underwear and offering sexual services.

“The letters had a couple of very disgusting images, either AI-generated or photoshopped, in which they put my face in those images, portraying me as a sex worker,” she said.

The Guardian first reported the existence of the letters.

The first she learned about the letters was when the local MP, Liberal Democrat Joshua Reynolds, called her to tell her that some of her constituents who had received them had alerted her.

Lau had sought refuge in the United Kingdom in 2021 after opposition politicians and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong began to be arrested following the imposition of a controversial new National Security Law.

While in the United Kingdom, he frequently criticized China’s communist leadership and spoke out about China’s controversial plans to build a “mega embassy” in London, warning that it could become a base for transnational repression of China’s critics abroad.

Last year, up to a dozen of the same residents in Kent had received letters sent from Hong Kong, purportedly coming from the police, offering a £95,000 reward to anyone who would take Ms Lau and hand her over to the Chinese embassy in London.

The new letters were sent last month from the Chinese territory of Macau, near Hong Kong.

“I was quite surprised because last time it was not explicit and it was very unpleasant to watch,” Lau told the BBC.

“When I was in Hong Kong, pro-Beijing officers were trained to use gender-based harassment against pro-democracy activists,” she said, “but artificial intelligence technology has enhanced this type of intimidation, it goes beyond simple transnational repression, and as a woman it is very worrying.”

Reynolds told the BBC: “The government must make it very clear that this is not acceptable, we cannot send these letters to UK residents.”

“We need to find out who sent these letters,” he said, adding that “Beijing officials must be held accountable.”

Reynolds said he had raised the issue with both the Home Office and the Foreign Office.

A government spokesperson said “the safety of Hong Kongers in the UK is of paramount importance.”

Lau said police had told him they would be investigating.

The government has previously insisted that any attempt by a foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities would not be tolerated.

He has said the UK continues to raise concerns about transnational repression directly to Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, and has publicly condemned the issuing of arrest warrants and rewards by Hong Kong Police.