On July 1, 1997, the British government transferred Hong Kong’s sovereignty to Chinese rule, under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework, which included guarantees for the protection of rights and freedoms for 50 years.

Decades later, those promises have been severely undermined. The National Security Law, imposed on July 1, 2020, marked a turning point in Hong Kong’s once-vibrant civic space.

While many pro-democracy figures fled the city in an attempt to escape this crackdown, Beijing has intensified its transnational repression, extending its reach beyond the city to target exiled activists as well as their families.

At the 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum, exiled activist @carmenkamanlau described that letters containing AI-generated deepfake images were sent to the doorsteps of her neighbors in the UK in an attempt to smear her, highlighting the regime’s efforts to intimidate Hong Kongers beyond its borders.

HRF stands in solidarity with Hong Kongers who continue to advocate for freedoms despite repression. HRF urges the Chinese regime to immediately and unconditionally release the more than one thousand political prisoners behind bars in Hong Kong and to impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for transnational repression.