Hong Kong arrests journalist for alleged 'seditious' acts

Hong Kong police arrested two people on Wednesday for allegedly acting "with seditious intent", authorities said, with local media identifying the pair as an independent journalist and an activist.

While authorities only said the suspects were a 37-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman, local media identified the pair as independent journalist reporter Tang Ho-wing and activist Lee Ying-chi.

Officers wearing vests labelled "NSD" -- for the National Security Department -- led Tang in handcuffs to a van from a residential building, images published by local media showed.

Tang's detention marks the first publicly known time a journalist has been arrested for sedition under Hong Kong's homegrown security law, which was passed in 2024 following a separate law imposed by Beijing, according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA).

The arrests were part of a series of operations linked to an incident on August 31 outside Prince Edward metro station, police said in a statement.

That evening, police discovered several people standing outside the station "holding bouquets and shouting seditious slogans", the statement said.

Six others were also arrested over the same offence earlier this month and have since been released on bail, it said.

The statement added that some individuals at the scene "were suspected of spreading false information and attacking ... government with lies" and smear the police in an attempt to incite hatred against authorities.

Tang had posted a video on social media from outside the station showing activists shouting "August 31".

On August 31, 2019, as Hong Kong was in the midst of months-long, huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests, clashes between police and protesters erupted in multiple districts.

According to television footage from that day, riot police entered Prince Edward station and arrested some protesters.