One of Hong Kong’s most well-known pro-democracy activists, Agnes Chow, has chosen not to return to the city in order to meet her bail conditions. This decision makes her the latest politician to flee Hong Kong as part of Beijing’s crackdown on dissidents.

Chow, a prominent figure in the city’s pro-democracy movement, was arrested in 2020 under a Beijing-imposed national security law that was enacted following the 2019 anti-government protests. Following her release on bail, she also served over six months in jail for a separate case related to her involvement in the protests.

Upon her release from prison in 2021, Chow was required to regularly report to the police. In a post on Instagram, she revealed that the pressure caused her “mental illnesses” and influenced her decision not to return to the city.

Since the enforcement of the security law in 2020, many of Chow’s peers have been imprisoned, arrested, forced into exile, or silenced.

The crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement has underscored the dramatic erosion of freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to China in 1997. However, Beijing and Hong Kong have praised the security law for restoring stability to the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

Chow disclosed that in July, authorities offered to return her passport for her to pursue studies in Canada under the condition that she would travel to mainland China with them. However, following her trip to mainland China, she made the decision not to return to Hong Kong.

In an interview, Chow stated that she is considering seeking asylum in Canada and discussed the possibility of engaging in political activism there for the benefit of Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong police have “strongly condemned” Chow’s decision, warning her against challenging the rule of law. They also urged her to return immediately, cautioning that failure to do so would result in being labeled a “fugitive” for life.

Rising to fame alongside other prominent activists, Joshua Wong and Nathan Law, Chow co-founded the now-defunct pro-democracy party Demosisto. The party disbanded on June 30, 2020, the same day the security law was enacted.

Wong is currently in custody facing a subversion charge, while Law has fled to Britain, with a reward offered for his arrest by Hong Kong police.