Top diplomats of Australia, Canada, UK, US express concern over Hong Kong mass arrests

Earlier in the week, Hong Kong police detained over 50 of the most prominent anti-Beijing activists over involvement in last year’s informal primary election. They were released with no charge the next day, except for two who were charged with subversion under the new National Security Law.

"We, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and the United States Secretary of State, underscore our serious concern at the mass arrests of 55 politicians and activists in Hong Kong for subversion under the National Security Law," a State Department said.

The statement went on to call Hong Kong and Chinese authorities to respect the guaranteed freedoms of Hong Kongers and to ensure an inclusive Legislative Council elections in September.

The foreign ministers reiterated their positions that the National Security Law is a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration that undermines the One Country, Two Systems framework.

In the primaries last July, the activists heavily campaigned on behalf of anti-Beijing candidates with the express goal of securing the necessary proportion of legislative seats in the postponed September election to block the passing of bills and budgets and to force Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down. Hong Kong police used this pretext to detain the activists this week, citing subversion under the new law.