The anonymous letter that was sent to residents of a quiet Melbourne suburb made a bold offer – $HK1 million in exchange for information on the whereabouts of a man called Kevin Yam.
For almost two years, Yam has been getting on with life as an exile from Hong Kong, working on his PhD at the University of Melbourne, barracking for Hawthorn in the AFL and trying to stay safe knowing the Hong Kong authorities were still pursuing him for his work as a pro-democracy dissident.
But last week, the threat reached close to home.
Kevin Yam in Australia in 2023. Credit: Oscar Colman
“Kevin is wanted on suspicion of a range of national security-related offences,” a letter sent from Hong Kong to Melbourne residents reads.
“A reward of one million Hong Kong dollars [$200,000] is being offered by the Hong Kong police to any member of the public who can provide information on this wanted person and the related crime or take him to Hong Kong or Australia Metropolitan Police.”
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In Hong Kong, wanted posters for Yam hang on the streets in the districts of Wan Chai and Kowloon. Yam has been a vocal critic of the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong, where he practised as a lawyer until the Chinese government
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