The 19-year-old Fugitive: Chloe Cheung’s Story of Resistance

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What is the cost of freedom and how much would you be willing to risk for it? These are the questions provoked by the story of Chloe Cheung, the 19-year-old from Hong Kong living in London, whose activism against Beijing’s rule over the region has made her a fugitive of the state.  

On Christmas Eve last year, Chloe Cheung was made aware that the Hong Kong Police issued an arrest against her with a bounty of around £100,000. This action was taken in response to the political nature of Chloe’s work as part of the pro-democracy NGO, the Hong Kong Freedom Committee Foundation. To Chloe, being able to speak up about the anti-democratic repression in Hong Kong, where people do not feel safe to do so themselves, is essential to her privileges living in Britain; ‘fear cannot restrain me’, she says, questioning in her Instagram post on the day of her arrest issue how the regime could be so ‘cowardly’ as to be threatened by a 19-year-old like her. 

“To Chloe, being able to speak up about the anti-democratic repression in Hong Kong, where people do not feel safe to do so themselves, is essential to her privileges living in Britain”

This speaks to the story of repression – both domestic and transnational – which the authoritarian government perpetrates through its regime. Using violence as one of their tools, police have been known to use tear gas and rubber bullets in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Further, Beijing demonstrates its control through the national security laws introduced in 2020, not only inciting fear but incentivising those from Hong Kong with rewards for reporting cases of national security ‘threats’ to a hotline. As many fear these threats can be defined as anything as small as political comments made in public, the freedom of expression which used to define Hong Kong’s autonomy has now been stripped away.  

“…the freedom of expression which used to define Hong Kong’s autonomy has now been stripped away.”

With the Chinese government being one of the largest perpetrators of transnational repression, the environment for immigrant activists becomes hostile and dangerous. For those immigrants considering activism, the choice becomes difficult when their safety is at risk; Amnesty International records experiences of Chinese students overseas whose families have faced harassment from the police. For example, parents have lost jobs, promotions or have been told to cut off financial aid to their children abroad – all the while the only evidence of these students being a ‘threat’ to national security are photographs of them at pro-democracy protests. When the levels of surveillance and censorship are so high, it is evident how it is fear not choice which drives the abstention from activism of so many of those from Hong Kong.  

Nonetheless, even with the threat to their safety looming, activists like Chloe Cheung recalibrate and resist the repression that the people of Hong Kong face. Whilst the government continue to denounce such dissidents, claiming that they undermine Hong Kong’s reputation abroad, Cheung says she aims to do the opposite. Her resistance is exemplary of her love for Hong Kong, as contrary to the regime’s agenda, the fight for freedom and truth is what really characterises her former home.