Security police investigating martial arts students

National security police on Tuesday said they are going to investigate every single student who joined martial arts classes taught by a man detained on suspicion of acting with seditious intent.

A 59-year-old man described as having a foreign background and his female assistant, 62, were arrested at a shared training space in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday following an undercover operation, detectives said.

Four students at the class were also fined for allegedly flouting social distancing rules.

Police said they had seized various weapons, such as air guns, swords and axes, as well as materials including a picture of university student Chow Tsz-lok who died during the 2019 protests.

Officers alleged that items such as the picture were used to incite hatred.

They also said they found HK$380,000 in cash, most of it in US banknotes.

Senior superintendent Steve Li from the force’s national security department claimed that the arrested suspects are members of a group that advocates Hong Kong independence.

He said the pair are suspected of posting numerous seditious messages on social media since March 2020, targeting the Hong Kong SAR and central governments.

Li said the martial arts school could have been used to recruit like-minded people and police are investigating whether the students were radicalised or had taken part in illegal activities.

“The aim of the class is very subversive, saying for example to get yourself prepared and target the Chinese Communist Party when the time comes,” Li alleged.

“There’s a prima facie case to investigate whether the students have committed any national security offences.”

Li also said the police are talking to the Department of Justice about whether the two arrested suspects can be charged with offences under the national security law.