HONG KONG-CHINA Elizabeth Tang, union member and wife of Lee Cheuk-yan, is also arrested

Raised in the Catholic community of Sek Lei, she is the general secretary of the International Federation of Domestic Workers. Since the autumn of 2021 she had moved to London, but in recent days she had stopped in Hong Kong to visit her husband, who has been in prison for two years for his pro-democratic struggles. She was arrested when she left the penitentiary, accused of violating the National Security Law promoted by Beijing.

Hong Kong () – Arrested, like her husband Lee Cheuk-yan, after leaving the Hong Kong prison, where she had gone to visit him. The ax of the infamous national security law, promoted by Beijing to crush the pro-democracy movement, also fell on Elizabeth Tang, a well-known face of the Hong Kong Catholic community, engaged in trade unions for decades. Like Lee Cheuk-yan -former member of the Legislative Assembly and former leader of the organization that promoted the vigil every year in memory of the victims of Tiananmen Square-, imprisoned since April 18 along with the other prominent figures of the pro-democracy movement, was accused of inciting subversion for the 2019 protests. The trial is still ongoing and they face sentences of up to ten years in prison.

Elizabeth Tang grew up in Sek Lei parish and until 2011 was executive secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, one of many organizations forced to dissolve in 2020 after the National Security Law was passed. In September 2021, she had moved to the UK after the press organ Ta Kung Pao, linked to Beijing, persecuted her personally. She had been accused of “receiving funding from foreign organizations” as a board member of the Asia Monitor Resource Center, a group that defends the rights of workers throughout the continent. This was clear intimidation for a woman who remains general secretary of the Domestic Workers International Federation, the global union for domestic workers that groups organizations active in 68 different countries around the world. Precisely the protection of carers has always been the first priority of Elizabeth Tang’s trade union activities in Hong Kong.

At that time, the Asia Monitor Resource Center it had stated that it was “independent of any local or international organisations”, but wanted to cease its operations in Hong Kong following pressure which had “intensified considerably”. And out of prudence, Elizabeth Tang had decided to continue her work for the International Domestic Workers Federation from London. However, due to an engagement in Asia, she had wanted to make a stop in Hong Kong to visit her husband in prison. She was leaving one of these meetings at Stanley prison when she was arrested: officers blocked her way and forced her into a vehicle.

As the website reminded Hong Kong Free Press, Tang’s arrest came just days after Chief Executive John Lee met with Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office Xia Baolong in Beijing. According to Lee, who was in the capital to attend the start of the session of the National People’s Congress, Xia called for “nipping in the bud” any act that endangers national security. “We will definitely crack down on anyone who tries to undermine the national security or break the peace of Hong Kong society, or harm its general interests, and hold them accountable under the law,” Lee said.