LONDON — The “wanted” posters were sent by mail, arriving at the homes of Carmen Lau’s neighbors in the town of Maidenhead.
The alleged crime? Speaking out about China’s rule in Hong Kong, where Lau has not lived since 2021.
Provide information about Lau to the Hong Kong Police Force, urged the poster, folded into envelopes with Hong Kong stamps, or “take her to the Chinese embassy.”
The reward: 1 million Hong Kong dollars, or $130,000.
The flyers that arrived in this town 7 miles from Windsor Castle are the latest threat directed at Hong Kong’s pro-democracy diaspora, who have fled the city trying to escape the long arm of Chinese law, only to find that harassment can cross borders.
Lau, who spoke to NBC News from outside the U.K. on Friday, said she did not “feel safe living at my current address,” and was now weighing temporary residence options elsewhere. (NBC News is not disclosing Lau’s current location for her safety.)
Joshua Reynolds, Maidenhead’s MP, says at least five people reported receiving the letters.
“They’re unsure what to do about it, they’re unsure why they received it, or what was going on,” he said in a telephone interview Friday, adding that he had called Lau about them.
Reynolds showed NBC News three identical posters that included Lau’s headshot and information including an address, date of birth, ethnicity, build and height. Reynolds said he knows of at least one other Hong Kong activist whose neighbors have received similar letters.
“A reward of one million Hong Kong dollars is being offered by Hong Kong Police to any member of the public, who can provide information on this wanted person and the related crime or take her to the Chinese embassy,” it reads.
Those with information should contact an email address or the Hong Kong Police Force’s British WhatsApp number, it says.
“The bounty is because they want to silence us and they want to instill fear among our diaspora,” said Lau, who fled Hong Kong in 2021 after the former British colony enacted a sweeping and vaguely worded national security law that gave the government more power to quash dissent.
The law followed a political crackdown triggered by Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests. It threatens stringent penalties for a wide range of actions authorities call threats to national security, with the most severe — including treason and insurrection — punishable by life imprisonment. Lesser offenses, including the possession of seditious publications, could also lead to several years in jail.
Lau was declared a criminal by police after she fled Hong Kong. The city’s police placed the bounty on her after accusing her of violating the national security law and calling for her return.
She said Hong Kong police had taken her relatives in for questioning twice this month. NBC News could not confirm her account.
Calling the posters “awful,” Reynolds said it was “just not acceptable” if it was true the flyers had been sent from China.
It was not clear who sent the posters. A spokesperson from Hong Kong’s government said it would “not issue any anonymous letter” but that it “will definitely pursue” those who had fled the territory “in accordance with the law” and “take every measure” to bring them back.
The Chinese Embassy in London did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Anonymous harassment has also been an issue within Hong Kong. In September, the Hong Kong Journalists Association said people from dozens of media outlets had received threatening messages in a “systematic and organized” campaign, calling it the largest-scale harassment of reporters it had ever seen.
This is not the first time concerns have been raised about the safety of Hong Kong democracy activists living in Britain, which took in more than 120,000 people from its former colony in response to the national security law.
Last May, British authorities charged three men, including the office manager of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, with surveilling and gathering intelligence against Hong Kong democracy activists.
Later that month, one of the men, Matthew Trickett, was found dead in a park, also in Maidenhead. Two other men, Chung Biu Yuen and Chi Leung Peter Wai, will go on trial in March. They deny the charges, which include breaking into a residence.
Chinese officials have called the charges “groundless and slanderous.”
Reynolds, Maidenhead’s MP, said residents in the town were “concerned that this looks like the Chinese are trying to interfere in the U.K., and that they don’t want to be frightened by what’s happening.”
He added that police had told him they were making sure Lau “gets the protection and security she requires.”
Thames Valley Police did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Reynolds, a member of the opposition Liberal Democrats party, said he was “concerned” by the British government’s approach toward China.
The Labour Party, which is currently in power, has been accused of complacency toward Beijing after ministers signaled their support for China’s proposed plan to build a “mega embassy” in London.
The plan has also been criticized by U.S. lawmakers Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who co-chairs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. In an open letter Wednesday, they said a Chinese Embassy of that scale would “only embolden its efforts to intimidate and harass UK citizens and dissidents and experts across Europe.”
A British government spokesperson said in an emailed statement Friday that “attempts by foreign governments to coerce, intimidate, harass, or harm their critics overseas, undermining democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable,” adding that they would “encourage anyone to report concerns to the police.”
Britain’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the criticism of the Chinese Embassy plans.
Lau said she had not been contacted by Britain’s Home Office, the government department responsible for immigration and security, or the Foreign Office.
“I will just continue my work because if I back down or if I really silence myself, that’s what they want,” she added.
