The [Australian] foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, complained about the targeted intimidation of exiled pro-democracy campaigners from Hong Kong directly to her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during a bilateral meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The July meeting was the first face-to-face discussion between the pair since two Hong Kong activists wanted for alleged national security crimes were subjected to anonymous letters offering Australian neighbours $203,000 to inform on them.

The letters are now being investigated by the countering foreign interference taskforce, which is led by Australia’s federal police and the domestic intelligence agency.

Government sources confirmed Wong privately reiterated her public criticism of the targeting of Adelaide-based Ted Hui and Melbourne-based Kevin Yam. Her office previously described their treatment as “reprehensible” and a threat to “our national sovereignty”.

[…]

Hui, an Australian resident and former Hong Kong politician, was also the subject of fake pamphlets that accused him of being a pro-Israel lawyer willing to “wage war” against Islamic terrorism. The letters were mailed to a mosque near his workplace and included his contact details.

Hui and Yam are wanted by Hong Kong authorities for allegedly breaching a controversial national security law that grants authorities sweeping extraterritorial powers to prosecute acts or comments made anywhere in the world that it deems criminal.

[…]

“We have consistently expressed our strong objections to China and Hong Kong on the broad and extraterritorial application of Hong Kong’s national security legislation and we will continue to do so,” a spokesperson for Wong said.

“Freedom of expression and assembly are essential to our democracy.”

[…]

“Transnational repression can be devastating in forms both brazen and subtle and I hope the government will take all these different forms with the utmost seriousness,” Yam said.

Hui, who was convicted in absentia for his role in pro-democracy protests during 2019, said Wong’s decision to raise the issue with Yi was “the right move”.

“Australians need to see that we’re not trading away everything just to restore economic ties,” Hui said.

[…]