Photo: hk01.com

At least 14 had been arrested for suspicion of illegal assembly, disturbing public order and attacking police in Prince Edward, Mong Kok as of 11 pm on Monday, local police said.    

More than 100 people gathered illegally at the Prince Edward station in Hong Kong Monday night as Monday marked one year since Prince Edward station riot on August 31, 2019. 

Hong Kong police had asked the crowd to disperse, and warned them that the slogans they shouted could have violated the newly enacted national security law for Hong Kong, local media reported. 

Ironically, a riot member rumored to have been "killed by police" during the riot on August 31, 2019 at Prince Edward station "came back to life," as the "dead man" said on social media that he is alive and seeking political asylum in the UK. 

The news shows what the mob would do to smear the police and authorities, legal experts said Monday, warning that those secessionists won't escape from the law, and the police will hunt them down wherever they are.

The man, named "Wang Maojun" in Chinese, was rumored to have been killed by Hong Kong police when he was using the alias "Hon Bo-sun" during the "8.31 riot." Mobs had been hyping the rumor to incite riots in Hong Kong.

Wang, however, surfaced on YouTube on Saturday, claiming he has been charged with eight criminal offenses by Hong Kong police for last year's riots, and faces several years in prison if convicted.

Wang was due to appear in court on July 17, but skipped bail and fled to the UK.

Wang was one of 600 people charged by Hong Kong police last year for participating in riots in the city, and among the first batch of people charged for the "8.31 riot." He was charged with two counts of rioting, two counts of criminal damage, one count of illegal assembly, one count of ordinary assault, one count of causing bodily harm, and one count of robbery.

The UK has become the choice of hiding places for many Hong Kong secessionists, including Sunny Cheung and high-profile secessionist Nathan Law Kwun-chung. They are reportedly planning to use London as a base for opposition forces from Hong Kong.

The little tricks expose mobs to ridicule as they always disregard the law and facts to achieve their goals. It is clear that those mobs try to defame the authority of the police officer and paralyze the social order by smearing the police and authorities, Tian Feilong, a Hong Kong affairs expert at Beihang University in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.

Since the British government has suspended its extradition treaty with the HKSAR, those secessionists would be difficult for Hong Kong police to arrest. The legal loophole caused by the suspension of the extradition treaty is an indulgence for cross-border crimes, Tian noted.

"But no matter where they are, be they in Hong Kong or outside of it, the central government and SAR government have the right to punish them," Tian said.

With Britain hosting more Hong Kong secessionists, Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming recently warned that harboring a so-called "parliament in exile" in the UK would pose new and severe obstacles to bilateral ties.

On August 31 last year, rioters entered Prince Edward Station and changed their shirts in the train compartment of the MTR. After some residents argued with them, police went to the scene to enforce the law and sealed off the station.


Newspaper headline: 14 arrested as hundreds illegally gather around Prince Edward station in Hong Kong