An overseas activist wanted by Hong Kong has decried the HK$1 million bounty offered for information on her and four colleagues, calling it part of China's campaign to intimidate critics and silence dissent.

Hong Kong police on Thursday announced the hefty rewards for help in catching Frances Hui and fellow activists accused of national security crimes.

"The Hong Kong government deliberately took a high-profile way to issue bounties for the arrest of overseas activists," Hui said at Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.

"They wanted to create a chilling effect on the community at large and to isolate us."

Top United States diplomat Antony Blinken on Friday decried Hong Kong's "transnational repression" and "the deterioration of that city's once proud tradition of respecting the rule of law."

"We strongly oppose any efforts to intimidate and silence individuals who choose to make the United States their home and will not waver in standing up for those who are targeted simply for exercising their human rights," he said in a statement.

Hui said she is grieving the recent passing of her grandmother, and her pain is compounded by her inability to attend the funeral back home.

"This is one of the things that many of us in exile have to accept and cope with, which is the chances of not being able to spend time and be there for people who hold weight in our lives," Hui said, her voice trembling.

Nevertheless, Hui vowed to continue her campaign for sanctions against officials in Hong Kong and China.

"I call on the international community, particularly the US, the UK (United Kingdom) and Australia, where the bountied individuals are residing, to fight against the CCP's transnational repression, interference and international human rights abuses," she said, referring to China's Communist Party.

The five activists fled Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the financial hub in 2020 to quash dissent after massive pro-democracy protests.                                      

WITH AFP