Nathan Lo, who promoted the idea of “Hong Kong independence”, fled to the UK after Beijing passed a new national security law in this special administrative region.
During his stay in London on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo met with Hong Kong opposition activist Nathan Lo, who fled to the UK. He also had a separate meeting with the last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.
According to her source, the meeting with Lo lasted about 20 minutes. The 27-year-old politician told the head of American diplomacy about the peculiarities of the origin of the protest movement in Hong Kong, in which he himself was actively involved.
The activist, who promoted the ideas of “Hong Kong independence”, recently fled to the UK after Beijing passed a new law on national security in this special administrative region.
This legal act, which drew strong criticism from London and Washington, aims to combat threats of terrorism, separatism, undermining state power and collusion with foreign forces. It provides, as a maximum penalty, for life imprisonment, the establishment of security structures in Hong Kong with a wide range of powers, the ability to investigate and handle individual cases in mainland China.
The new law is expected to enable the authorities to stop the radicals who caused many riots between June and November last year, which caused significant damage to Hong Kong’s economy. After the law was passed, a number of organizers of last year’s mass protests announced the termination of their anti-government activities in Hong Kong, and some expressed a desire to leave.