Thread by @AFP

#BREAKING US embassy says Hong Kong fugitives 'fleeing tyranny', urges release ahead of China trial

#UPDATE United States calls for the immediate release of a group of Hong Kong democracy activists facing trial in China on Monday, after they attempted to escape the territory by speedboat for sanctuary in Taiwan

u.afp.com/Uoce

Hong Kong's 'speedboat fugitives'.

@AFP map showing the approximate location where 12 Hong Kong democracy activists were intercepted fleeing the city by mainland China authorities in August

Diplomats from the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, Portugal and the Netherlands wait outside a court in Shenzhen, China, for permission to watch the trial of 12 Hong Kong democracy activists who were arrested last August as they tried to flee to Taiwan by boat

📸 Noel Celis

#UPDATE The trial in China of a group of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who tried to escape the city by speedboat for sanctuary in Taiwan opened on Monday, as the United States urged the immediate release of dissidents it says "fled tyranny" u.afp.com/UoNE

VIDEO: 🇨🇳🇭🇰 China says it firmly opposes a call by the United States to release a group of 12 Hong Kong democracy activists, ten of whom faced trial on Monday after they attempted to escape the territory by speedboat for sanctuary in Taiwan