Steven Li, chief superintendent of the police national security department, said the authorities received about 500 pieces of information since the last round of bounties were announced. While some of the information was valuable to the police, no arrest of the eight had yet been made.
Li said the five activists newly added to their wanted list committed various offenses including colluding with foreign forces and incitement to secession.
“They all betrayed their own country and betrayed Hong Kong,” he said in the news conference. “After they fled overseas, they continued to engage in activities endangering national security.”
Li said authorities will try their best to cut the financial support to the wanted activists.
Police arrested four other people on Wednesday on suspicion of funding former pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui — two of the eight activists targeted by the police in July — through an “online subscription and crowdfunding platform”.
The four were alleged to have provided financial support to others committing secession. The amount involved ranged from HK$10,000 to 120,000 (US$1280 to US$15,400).
Cheng wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he embraced the charges.
“Being hunted by China (Hong Kong)’s secret police, under a one-million-dollar bounty, is a lifelong honour,” he wrote.