Hong Kong has become a "city of fear" where democracy activists are silenced with pre-emptive arrests, a prominent human rights lawyer said Friday as a court denied her bail.

Chow Hang-tung was arrested and charged on Wednesday with inciting others to join a banned protest.

The 36-year-old barrister was first arrested on June 4 — the date that marks Beijing's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square with troops and tanks.

She was part of the group behind Hong Kong's annual Tiananmen vigils, and was one of its last remaining members not jailed or facing prosecution.

Police have banned the vigils the last two years, and have accused Chow of encouraging others to join an unlawful gathering on June 4 this year, a charge she denies.

On Friday, at her first court appearance, she was denied bail and remanded in custody. Her next hearing will take place on July 30.

Hong Kong's courts now commonly deny bail to democracy activists arrested under either a colonial-era sedition law or Beijing's new national security law.

But it is unusual for bail to be denied for unlawful assembly offences.

Shortly before bail was rejected, Chow's Facebook page published a lengthy statement in which she decried the current state of political freedoms in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong has become a city of fear, with panic and many people leaving," Chow wrote.

"The government has increasingly deemed those who raise questions and opinions as enemies, demonised dissent with divisive methods and used police brutality and force to suppress democratic voices," she added.

"In the new era of national security and stability, every major anniversary sees preventive arrests and demonstrative arrests."

China has overseen a sweeping crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong after the financial hub was convulsed by months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests.

Many of the city's most prominent democracy activists are either jailed, being prosecuted or in overseas exile.

The powerful new security law imposed on the city a year ago has criminalised much dissent and transformed the semi-autonomous city's political and legal landscape.

China says the law was needed to restore stability.

Critics, including many Western nations, say China has effectively shredded its "One country, two systems" promise that Hong Kong could maintain certain freedoms and autonomy after its 1997 handover by Britain.

Hong Kong police warn residents against mourning man who stabbed officer
Hong Kong (AFP) July 4, 2021 –

Hong Kong authorities on Sunday warned residents against mourning a man who killed himself after stabbing a policeman, saying that encouraging such memorials was the same as "supporting terrorism".

Police had described the attacker, who stabbed an officer before fatally wounding himself on Thursday, as politically "radicalised".

Hong Kong has become a deeply polarised city, especially since the huge, often violent pro-democracy protests of 2019. Many residents chafe under Beijing's increasingly authoritarian rule.

Some tried to pay tribute to the attacker by laying flowers and observing a moment of silence on Friday, prompting the latest warning from police.

"Advocating members of the public to mourn for the attacker is no different from supporting terrorism," the force said in a statement.

Hong Kong and Chinese authorities have clamped down on dissent using a new national security law, under which a terrorism conviction could carry a life sentence, while promoting, inciting and supporting terrorism could result in up to ten years in prison.

In their Sunday statement, the police said they were investigating if the man who stabbed an officer was "incited" to carry out the attack.

It warned that "any act with a seditious intention" can be prosecuted, carrying a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

Images published by local media from the scene showed some white flowers left by mourners were dumped in trash bins or seized and placed into police vehicles.

China says its crackdown and national security law are needed to restore stability in Hong Kong. But critics, including many western nations, say Beijing has shredded its promise to let the city maintain certain freedoms and autonomy after its 1997 handover.

The political situation has left many companies walking a tightrope as they try not to offend the authorities.

Vitasoy, a Hong Kong beverage conglomerate, had confirmed that the man who attacked the officer last week was its employee, and expressed regret at the tragedy.

But it had to swiftly apologise and condemn the attack after nationalist backlash on social media in mainland China.