Adelaide-based Ted Hui says he learned about the raids at the homes of his parents-in-law and their son from media reports on 12 September.
It was reported all three family members were taken into local police stations for questioning before their release the same day. No arrests were reportedly made.
The interrogation came after Hong Kong’s national security police announced on 3 July rewards of $HK1 million ($191,400) for information leading to the arrest of eight most-wanted pro-democracy activists based overseas.
They have been accused of serious national security offences including foreign collusion and incitement to secession.
Beijing has been tightening its reins over the former British colony since it introduced a wide-ranging national security law for the city in June 2020, which makes it easier to prosecute protesters and reduce Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Mr Hui has been living in Adelaide since fleeing Hong Kong via London in 2021 with his wife and two children.
Hong Kong police issued arrest warrants in July for eight pro-democracy activists, including Australia-based Ted Hui and Melbourne lawyer Kevin Yam.
While speaking with SBS Chinese on the day of his relatives were picked up, Mr Hui criticised the actions of Chinese authorities, calling them “gangster-like".
Intimidating the family members of people in exile is a nuisance. Their behaviour is despicable.Ted Hui
Chinese media widely reported a statement given by the Hong Kong police on the day of the arrest.
“The National Security Department attaches great importance to the case and will continue to investigate the remaining contacts or agents of the wanted persons in Hong Kong and investigate the culpability of the relevant persons in depth.”
Mr Hui declined to comment on his father-in-law’s condition following his detention but admitted that “pressure will undoubtedly be placed on my family if relatives in Hong Kong are being threatened”.
"The greater the Chinese Communist Party’s suppression of exiles and dissidents, the more brutal the dictatorship will be, and the more isolated it will be in the international arena, which will only exposes its weakness,"Mr Hui said.
“The three were questioned by officers from the National Security Department about whether they had contacted the former legislator and offered him any help, such as financial support,” local media reported from sources.
[The interrogation] will not affect my advocacy and lobbying for Hong Kong’s democracy and freedom internationally.Ted Hui
As well as being one of Hong Kong’s most-wanted, he is now also able to practice law after being admitted as a barrister and solicitor at South Australia’s Supreme Court in August.
Mr Hui has been accused by Hong Kong police in 23 criminal cases including violating the Hong Kong National Security Law.
At least 20 connections of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists based abroad have been questioned by the national security department in the past two months, according to local media reports.
Threats to relatives who remain in the country are also commonplace.
Mr Hui is not the only Australia-based pro-democracy activist on Hong Kong’s arrest list.
Melbourne-based lawyer Kevin Yam is another such name.
Kevin Yam said it’s an honour for him to be named together with other “big name” Hong Kong pro-democracy activists. Credit: SBS/Tania Lee
Mr Yam, an Australian who carved a career in commercial law in Hong Kong, is among many from the territory who have relocated overseas since the introduction of the national security law.
He’s since been a regular at Australian rallies that support the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong that he says have jailed and exiled many of his friends.
“If you look at a small potato like me and some of the other names on the list, some of those people are the biggest names in the diaspora Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and I feel a little bit unworthy of being named in the same breath as them,” Mr Yam then told SBS Chinese.
