James Pomfret & Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters). -Cardinal Joseph Zen was one of Asia’s most prominent Catholic clerics. He and three others were accused of collusion with foreign troops. Later, they were released after being released on bail.

Zen, a former bishop in Hong Kong at 90 years old, was held for several hours by Chai Wan police station close to his church. He was then granted bail. Zen, a silver-haired man, left the scene wearing a white clerical collar and did not make any comments to media.

According to local police, two people were arrested by the National Security Department of the Police Force for collusion with foreign troops. They are aged between 45 and 90.

According to police, they are suspected of asking foreign sanctions. According to police, all three were freed on bail after their passports were confiscated by the National Security Law.

An earlier legal source had previously told Reuters about five arrests in the case. Zen, Margaret Ng (74), a senior barrister; Denise Ho (activist and singer), Cyd Ho (ex-lawmaker); and Hui Pokeung (ex-academic).

Zen is a long-standing advocate for democratic causes in Hong Kong, China and on the mainland. He has also spoken against China’s increasing authoritarianism, which includes a Beijing-imposed law of national security and persecution of Roman Catholics.

Media reports claim that Hui was taken into custody at the airport last Tuesday, and Cyd Ho was still in jail over another case.

These five trustees were also the trustees for “612 Humanitarian Relief Fund”, which paid legal and medical expenses to those protestors who were arrested during anti-China, pro-democracy protests in 2019.

VATICAN CONCERNED

Hong Kong is a long-standing Catholic hub in Asia. It houses a network of scholars, aid agencies and missions, which have all supported Catholics throughout China.

Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law in June 2020 that punishes terrorism, collusion with foreign forces, subversion and secession with possible life imprisonment.

According to the Vatican, Wednesday’s arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen was “with concern”. The Vatican is following all developments “with extreme care”.

Reuters could not immediately contact the other parties for comment. Hong Kong Catholic Diocese didn’t immediately comment.

Last year, “612 Humanitarian Fund” was dropped after a collapse of an organization that received donations through a bank.

After police stated last September that they were investigating allegations of violations to the National Security Law, the arrests came after the officers had made the following statement:

Kurt Campbell (U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator) stated that America was worried about Hong Kong’s “clampdown”, including within religious and academic circles.

Campbell stated that he could only tell you, “All I can say is that I believe we are increasingly troubled” by Hong Kong’s attempts to eliminate civil society. He was responding to questions about the arrests at an online Washington event.

Hui is an associate professor of cultural studies at Lingnan University. He had previously taught Nathan Law, an exiled activist for democracy.

Law responded to Hui’s arrest by writing on Facebook: “If you wish to punish someone you can always find an explanation.”

Critics include the United States who claim that the security law undermines freedoms offered by China in a “one-country, two-system” agreement when Hong Kong was handed over from British rule to Chinese control.

However, Hong Kong officials claim that the law brought stability to Hong Kong after 2019’s mass protests.