Washington — A prominent Hong Kong activist in exile in the United States said the Hong Kong court ruling had been issued Her father was imprisoned For eight months it made her more determined to fight for the region and its people.
“I think it’s clear that the (Hong Kong) government wants to use guilt, wants to use a lot of emotions to burden me, but I found my way to find my calling in activism for Hong Kong,” said Anna Kwok, who is wanted by the Hong Kong government for her pro-democracy activism.
“So I will not back down. I will be more strategic with more long-term thinking and more dedicated to the Hong Kong issue,” she said.
Kwok spoke to The Associated Press on Friday, a day after a Hong Kong court ruled that her father, 69-year-old Kwok Yin Sang, should be jailed for trying to withdraw nearly $11,000 from her insurance policy.
Her father bought the policy when she was a little girl, and took control of it when she turned 18. In 2025, he sought to terminate the policy and withdraw the funds, the court heard. He was arrested and accused of trying to deal with funds belonging to “FARB.”
This was the first case targeting a family member of a democracy defender Wanted by Hong Kong To be brought under 2024 National Security Law.
Anna Kwok, executive director of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, called the ruling “ridiculous” and said it brought personal costs to her activism.
“I’ve been on this journey of discovering what activism means to me, and now with this added layer of … very real personal cost that not only I face but my family faces,” she said.
Her father’s case sparked criticism from the US government.
Riley Barnes, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, called for Kwok Yin Sang’s immediate release. “The targeting of individuals who stand up for fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong and their families is unacceptable,” Barnes wrote Thursday in a social media post.
Anna Kwok is among 34 people to whom Hong Kong police have offered rewards, which is widely seen as part of a retaliation campaign. campaign On the opposition following mass anti-government protests in 2019. Police have offered HK$1 million (about $127,900) for information leading to her arrest. The government also prohibited anyone from handling any of its funds.
She is accused of pushing for foreign sanctions and engaging in other hostile activities against China and Hong Kong during meetings with foreign politicians and government officials.
Kwok said she can no longer talk to her family and friends in Hong Kong. She said she decided to do an on-camera interview after her father’s sentencing “to show my family and the people who care about me that I can’t really relate to them and that I’m okay, please don’t worry too much about me.”
She said she would not allow the Hong Kong government to succeed in holding her responsible for putting her family in danger.
“I have to constantly remind myself that it’s not my fault, but the system’s fault and its goal, that I would do something like this,” Kwok said.