Chung was among the youngest people in Hong Kong to be convicted under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing, and had finished serving time six months before.
Fresh out of prison, he found that he remained under the thumb of the authorities, particularly the national security police, who pressed him to become an informant and take a trip with them to China.
"Not only do they completely control my life and interfere with it, their actions affect my personal safety and put my life in danger," Chung, 22, told AFP in an interview from Britain on Friday.
Taking HK$40,000 ($5,100) with him, Chung left Hong Kong last week after he promised his overseers he would come back after a short vacation. Once in Okinawa, he bought a ticket for London.
Chung is among a growing list of Hong Kong activists who have sought refuge overseas, as city officials and Beijing vow to hold them accountable.
He wrote a long public post on Facebook detailing his escape after landing at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday, a move that turned him into a fugitive in the eyes of the Hong Kong government.
On Friday, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UK urged Britain to "bring (Chung) to justice as soon as possible and repatriate him to Hong Kong".
Asked if he felt safe, Chung said the UK would not accept Hong Kong's attempt to paint him as a criminal.
"I believe the UK government would not agree with how China's government has implemented the national security law in Hong Kong to suppress Hongkongers," he said.
- Independence advocate -
In 2016, Chung was a high school student when he led the group "Student Localism", which called for Hong Kong's independence from China.
Considered a redline for Beijing, calling for separation from China was a fringe view in the former British colony.
Student Localism ceased its local operations in 2020 just before Beijing's national security law took effect in response to the huge and sometimes violent democracy protests the previous year.
Despite authorities saying the law would not be retroactive, Chung -- then 19 years old -- was arrested for secession in July 2020 and granted bail.
He was arrested again three months later outside the United States consulate in Hong Kong, where he said he had been trying to seek political asylum.
He later pleaded guilty to secession and money laundering in connection with donations taken for his group, and was sentenced to three and a half years behind bars.
In prison, he said he witnessed the nascent stages of Hong Kong's "deradicalisation" program -- partly consisting of patriotic movie screenings, Chinese history lectures and cultural performances.
"(Prison officials) lectured us with a pitying tone, saying we were exploited, that we were bought by Americans to disrupt China's development," Chung said.
- 'Very immediate threat' -
In June, Chung said he was granted early release after agreeing to strict limits on speech, movement and employment.
Another source of stress was Hong Kong's national security police, who would pay him between HK$500 and HK$3,000 for information on people in his circles.
"They never offered me a choice, they just said this (arrangement) would happen," Chung said.
"I can only accommodate them, and let them think I fit their idea of rehabilitation."
Asked about Chung's informant claims, Hong Kong police said it "has been effectively collecting intelligence... through various channels, means and individuals".
The final straw came when national security police suggested taking him on a trip to mainland China.
"I could not speculate what their aim was. What I can say is I felt a very immediate threat," he said.
Police dropped the idea when he objected, but he believed that future requests may be harder to turn down.
Fleeing to the UK felt "unreal", until his flight touched down and British immigration officers secured plastic tags on his luggage -- standard procedure for asylum claimants, he was told.
Chung stopped short of discussing his plans for the future, only saying he wanted to "continue to contribute" to Hong Kong.
"Since long ago, I have thought about the prospect of being jailed and being forced to leave Hong Kong," he said.
"But when I actually took the path that may lead me away from Hong Kong forever... I would hope that I can one day return."
Hong Kong democracy advocate seeks asylum in Britain
Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 29, 2023 -
Hong Kong democracy activist Tony Chung said Friday he had fled to Britain because he could no longer endure supervision from authorities, who had pressured him to become an informant and limited his work options.
In 2021, Chung, then 20, became the youngest person to be imprisoned under Hong Kong's national security law -- imposed by Beijing after massive pro-democracy protests kicked off in 2019 in the former British colony.
He pleaded guilty to "secession" and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Since his early release in June, Chung said he has lived in daily fear.
"I feared stepping out of my home, feared using the phone in public, and worried about the possibility of being detained again by national security police officers on the streets," he said in a statement posted on social media early Friday but dated December 27.
Chung said he was told by authorities that he was not allowed to work in "specific businesses", and that "national security police officers kept on coercing and inducing me to join them".
"They proposed providing informant fees, urging me to supply information about others as proof of my reformation and willingness to cooperate."
He said he got permission to leave Hong Kong by saying he wanted to go on holiday in Okinawa, Japan, and sought help once outside Chinese territory.
"As I publish this statement, I have safely arrived in the United Kingdom and have formally applied for political asylum upon entry," Chung said.
His post on social media included a photo of him holding a suitcase in front of a "UK Arrivals" sign.
Leung Kin-ip, deputy commissioner of Hong Kong's correctional services, condemned Chung for "evading responsibility and blatantly endangering national security".
Authorities have "contacted other law enforcement agencies to pursue him in accordance with the law", Leung said.
Hong Kong police said on Friday it "has been effectively collecting intelligence related to acts and activities that endanger national security through various channels, means and individuals."
Without naming Chung, police also "strongly condemned" people who "shamefully begged for assistance from foreign anti-China forces under the guise of being victims".
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UK urged Britain to "bring (Chung) to justice as soon as possible and repatriate him to Hong Kong".
- 'Hong Kong exile' -
Chung was the convenor of Student Localism, a small group he set up five years ago as a secondary school pupil to advocate for Hong Kong's independence from China.
Separation from China was then a fringe view in Hong Kong, although calls for self-rule became more vocal during the 2019 protests.
In 2020, Chung was nabbed by plainclothes police from a coffee shop opposite the US consulate, where he was allegedly planning to seek asylum.
Since October, he had "intermittently fallen ill" following his release from prison, and doctors diagnosed him with "significant mental stress", he said.
National security police had requested meetings every two to four weeks, Chung said, where he was asked extensively about his activities and people he met.
"Each meeting involved meeting at random locations, being ordered to board a seven-seater vehicle with closed curtains, and transported to unknown destinations."
Authorities compelled him to sign an order banning him from public speaking, and disseminating anything related to his conviction or deemed a danger to national security, Chung said.
He was also stopped from seeking legal assistance, with authorities citing a confidentiality clause under the security law.
Chung's departure follows fellow Hong Kong activist Agnes Chow's announcement this month that she had moved to Canada.
Chow said that, as part of a deal with police, she agreed to travel to mainland China for a tour promoting the country's achievements in return for permission to study abroad.
In his social media post, Chung wrote that police had asked him to go on a trip to mainland China, but that he had objected.
Calling himself a "Hong Kong exile", Chung said it was impossible for him to return home in the foreseeable future.
"I believe that as long as the Hong Kong people never give up, the seeds of freedom and democracy will sprout alive again."
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