Hong Kong police arrest five speech therapists over three books with ‘treacherous’ tales to children

Hong Kong police arrested five people on suspicion of conspiring to publish ‘seditious material’ over a series of children’s books on Thursday.

The suspects, members of a speech therapists’ union, intended to incite ‘the public’s – and especially young children’s – hatred towards Hong Kong’s government and judiciary and to incite violence and illegal acts,’ police claimed in a statement. 

Pictures showed one of the suspects, wearing handcuffs and a black hood, being escorted by police officers on Thursday night. 

The arrests by the new national security police unit, which is spearheading a sweeping crackdown on dissent, are the latest action against pro-democracy activists since huge and often violent protests convulsed the city two years ago. 

The children’s books featured sheep trying to hold back wolves from their village, and make reference to events in Hong Kong since the mass protests broke out in 2019, AFP reported.

Police said the suspects, who were not identified, were two men and three women aged between 25 and 28. HK$160,000 (£14,866) in funds have been frozen, police added. Hong Kong police do not typically name arrested people.

‘The public must be aware of the facts and must not tolerate or glorify violence, let alone the next generation be incited by false and distorted information and go astray,’ police said in a statement.

The five were arrested under a colonial-era law targeting sedition, which had been rarely used before the 2019 protests began in the former British colony.

First convictions under the law can carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison, police said.

The arrests were the latest involving suspected critics of Hong Kong’s government that have raised fears about the shrinking space for dissent following Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping national security law in June last year, which effectively put an end to the pro-democracy protests.

Those arrested are from The General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists, public broadcaster. The union could not be reached by Reuters for comment. 

In recent months the union published three illustrated books that try to explain Hong Kong’s democracy movement to children.

Democracy supporters are portrayed as sheep living in a village surrounded by wolves, AFP reported.

The first book, titled ‘Guardians of Sheep Village’ explains the 2019 pro-democracy protests that swept through Hong Kong.

‘Janitors of Sheep Village’, the second book, sees cleaners in the village go on strike to force out wolves who leave litter everywhere.

The book’s introduction explains it is a reference to Hong Kong medical workers striking last year in a bid to force the government to close the border with mainland China at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The final book in the trilogy – ‘The 12 Braves of Sheep Village’ – is about a group of sheep who flee their village by boat because of the wolves.

It is a direct reference to 12 Hong Kongers who made a failed bid to escape by speedboat last year to Taiwan but were detained by the Chinese coast guard and jailed.

Authorities have denied any erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong – which returned to China in 1997 under a ‘one country, two systems’ formula aimed at preserving its freedoms and role as a financial hub – but say China’s national security is a red line.

The law criminalises secessionism, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion in the city’s affairs. Since it was implemented, more than 100 pro-democracy supporters have been arrested and many others have fled abroad. 

Security officials have said law enforcement action is based on evidence and has nothing to do with an individual’s political stance, background or profession.   

Also on Thursday, a court denied bail for four editors and journalists of a now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper who are being held under the national security law.

The former Apple Daily staff were arrested Wednesday on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign powers to endanger national security.

So far, eight former employees have been arrested. Apply Daily ceased operations in June after $2.3 million in assets were frozen and police raided the newspaper’s offices, confiscating hard drives and laptops.