Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong told Sunday how he constantly feared arrest following the imposition of a new security law in Hong Kong, in a virtual appearance at British book festival.

The 23-year-old said his very participation in the event might put him at risk, but that it was his duty to keep speaking out about China's tightening grip on the semi-autonomous city.

Wong said that two hours before he appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, he was tailed by an unknown car with a China-Hong Kong licence.

While visiting Victoria Peak in Hong Kong with friends, he said he was photographed and verbally abused by a "pro-Beijing gang".

"Those are the common tactics that they use to target pro-democracy activists," he said.

Wong said the price he paid in being under surveillance was "comparatively small" compared to protesters shot with live rounds during demonstrations last year.

But he said it was hard to plan for the future under the threat of the national security law China imposed on Hong Kong in June in response to last year's huge and often violent pro-democracy protests.

He said it was "already a kind of miracle" that he was still at liberty to speak at such an international event.

"Every day I sleep, I also worry will the government come to arrest me immediately, or the day after, storm into my house at 5:00 am just like experienced by Jimmy Lai," he said.

Media mogul Lai was among 10 people detained under the law earlier this month, and the newsroom of his Apple Daily was searched.

- 'Uphill battle' -

Prominent activist Agnes Chow, who like Wong was a key figure in the "Umbrella Movement", was also arrested. Both were released on bail.

Wong said the pro-democracy movement was only asking for the autonomy that Beijing promised Hong Kong when it was handed back from Britain in 1997.

"We are not asking something that goes too far," he said in the interview conducted by Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch.

Wong said he saw "no chance" for Hong Kong to have free elections under Chinese President Xi Jinping, but said activists should press on, adding that he still had hope in the people of Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong is not Hong Kong any more, but with the spirit of Hong Kongers we still go forward in this uphill battle," he said.

Hong Kong removes 'sensitive' content from school textbooks
Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 20, 2020 - Hong Kong publishers have been told to remove "sensitive" content from secondary school textbooks, local media reported Thursday, in the latest move to tighten the city's academic freedoms after the passage of a draconian new security law.

Discussions on civil disobedience, photos of certain protest slogans and even the names of some political parties have been excised from books used to teach critical thinking to the city's teenagers.

Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed government said the edits were required "with a view to sieving out the inaccurate parts from the past".

The censorship is the latest move in a quickening campaign to eliminate dissent in the free-wheeling city, which was rocked by months of sometimes violent protests demanding democratic reform and police accountability.

Education has been a key target of Beijing's ire, with pro-establishment politicians lashing out at a perceived fifth column within the city's schools that they say offers succour to protesters.

Liberal studies, a secondary school class that teaches critical thinking, has become a bete noire for China and pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong who have called for more openly patriotic education.

Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) said the city's Education Bureau, whose consultancy service demanded the changes, was guilty of political censorship.

"It waters down or even distorts reality in society," HKPTU said, calling for authorities to guarantee academic freedom in the territory.

Under a 50-year deal struck between Britain and China ahead of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, Beijing agreed to let the city keep certain liberties -- such as free speech -- that are unseen on the mainland.

But the swingeing national security law, which came into force at the end of June, effectively outlawed certain opinions overnight, threatening long jail terms for transgressors.

The law, whose contents were kept secret from Hong Kongers until it was imposed on them by Beijing, has already prompted schools and libraries to pull some books.

Hong Kong's government said the edits would help students "develop positive values". It denied any political censorship.

Hong Kong slams US decision to end tax, extradition deals
Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 20, 2020 - Hong Kong on Thursday accused America of using the city as a pawn in ties with China as it slammed a US decision to withdraw from three accords on extradition and taxation.

The United States formally notified the Asian financial hub on Wednesday that it had withdrawn from bilateral deals covering the surrender of fugitives, transfer of prisoners and tax exemptions on income from shipping.

Washington's move came in response to the imposition by China of a national security law in Hong Kong that critics say is an attack on freedoms in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

"These steps underscore our deep concern regarding Beijing's decision to impose the national security law, which has crushed the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong," the US Department of State said.

But a Hong Kong government spokesperson on Thursday said abandoning the deals created further "troubles in the China-US relationship, using Hong Kong as a pawn", and "should be condemned by the international community".

He said the decision reflects a "disrespect for bilateralism and multilateralism" under the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Beijing also criticised the "wrong actions of the US", saying China has decided Hong Kong would suspend its agreement with the US on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing: "Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs... China urges the US to immediately correct its wrong decision."

The US announcement followed an earlier decision by Trump to revoke the preferential trade status afforded Hong Kong under American law, as Beijing clamps down on the territory after huge and often violent pro-democracy protests last year.

Hong Kong authorities said the three agreements terminated on Wednesday were negotiated "in good faith to benefit the peoples and businesses of both sides".

The spokesperson added that ending the tax exemptions would increase the operating costs of shipping companies.

"It will hamper the development of the shipping sector between Hong Kong and the US, and is in nobody's interest," he said.

Earlier this month Washington imposed sanctions on Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam along with 10 other senior officials in the city, and criminalised any US financial transactions with the group.

It also required goods imported from Hong Kong to be marked as "made in China" rather than "made in Hong Kong" as previously.

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Trump calls arrested Hong Kong media mogul Lai 'brave man'
Washington (AFP) Aug 19, 2020
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called arrested Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai a "brave man" and expressed his support for the pro-democracy advocate who was briefly detained last week. "I sent him best wishes," Trump told reporters at the White House. Lai was among 10 people detained on August 10 under a sweeping security law imposed by Beijing, as around 200 police officers searched the newsroom of his Apple Daily tabloid, which is unapologetically critical of China. The 71-year-old w ... read more