9 Hong Kong Residents Arrested For Allegedly Plotting To Set Off Bombs

Nine people were arrested Tuesday in Hong Kong for allegedly planning to detonate bombs as part of a terrorist plot, the Associated Press reported.

Police detained a group, which included six teenage students, on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activity under a new national security law that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the AP. The arrests come amid years of tension between pro-democracy Hong Kong activists and authorities backed by mainland China.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam condemned the group in a press conference Tuesday, urging residents to report on their peers in order to prevent further violence.

“For a long time, citizens have been exposed to wrong ideas, such as achieving justice through illegal means,” Lam told reporters.

“I also call on parents, principals, teachers, and even pastors to observe acts of teenagers around them,” Lam said. “If some teens are found to be committing illegal acts, they must be reported.”

Hong Kong police said the group was planning to bomb courts, transportation infrastructure and trash cans on the street, police told the AP.

Authorities said they confiscated bomb-making equipment and raw materials, as well as small amounts of the explosives. They also found $10,300 in cash, according to the AP.

Police also froze the accounts of the group, containing $77,200 in assets, which the authorities said would be used to fund future acts of terrorism, according to the AP.

China has cracked down on democracy activism in Hong Kong, convicting seven activists in April of unlawful assembly for their role in the 2019 protests. Hong Kong police raided the offices of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily in October 2020, arresting its owner Jimmy Lai and several journalists.