Hong Kong Museum Exhibit Displays Bounties on Australia-Based Activists

Hong Kong's Museum of History added a permanent exhibit in the past year that lists more than two dozen people sought under national security laws, including three Australian citizens. The display shows police bounties of HK$1 million on two of the individuals and HK$200,000 on the third, along with a statement that authorities will pursue them for life.

The exhibit opened as a temporary display in 2025 and was made permanent this year. It presents the 2019 protests as a foreign-backed colour revolution and highlights convictions under the 2020 National Security Law and a related 2024 local law.

One section of the gallery cites Australia's foreign interference laws to argue that Hong Kong's legal framework matches practices in other countries. The same section states that foreign criticism of the laws amounts to double standards. The display also features two high-profile cases: an Australian dual citizen sentenced to seven years and three months for subversion, and a British dual citizen sentenced to 20 years for collusion with foreign forces.

Neither case involved the three people listed on the bounty wall.

One of the listed individuals, a former Hong Kong politician now living in Australia, said the exhibit misrepresents his situation as a political refugee. Another listed individual, an Australian citizen who previously worked as a lawyer in Hong Kong, said the comparison to Australian laws overlooks differences in procedural protections.

A Hong Kong government spokesperson said the list aims to show that no country should assist people facing criminal charges. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs stated it continues to object to the extraterritorial application of the laws. The gallery does not mention the departure of several overseas judges from Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal in recent years.