Leading Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow has spoken to NHK World about why she is never going back home. She made the announcement on Sunday with her first Instagram post in about two years.

Chow was jailed in 2020 for her role in large-scale protests, and released in 2021. She is in Toronto now.

She had been scheduled to return to Hong Kong this month because she is required to periodically report to the police. But Chow says she won't go back. Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee responded on Tuesday by saying fugitives like her will be hunted for life, unless they surrender.

Asked why she broke her silence now, Chow said, "I would say that it's based on what I experienced in the past three years, because in the past three years I feel like my daily life was totally being controlled and limited by the National Security police. And this year when I was applying to the police that I would like to go to Canada to study, they forced me to, for example, write a thank you letter to the police. They forced me to go to Shenzhen for a patriotic trip and they forced me to write a letter of repentance. And for me, I just want to live freely. That's why, through a really long period of time of the consideration, I decided not to go back."

Chow then said, "One of the scariest things will be being forced to go to China. Definitely because if you were being sent to China, and if something happened in China, no one is going to rescue you because you're not in Hong Kong. On the day of being sent to China, I was afraid of not being able to go back to Hong Kong. The police kept giving a message to me that you have to be obedient."

She said it was a very difficult decision never to go back to Hong Kong.

Chow said, "Hong Kong is forever my home. I'm forever a Hong Konger. But at the same time, Hong Kong, for me, is a place of fear. I'm afraid that if I go back to Hong Kong, I would not be able to come back to Canada to continue my study."

She added, "I'm actually quite worried about my personal safety right now, especially when there were many news reports about overseas police of China that are actually not only in Canada but also in Japan and also in the United States, there were some so-called overseas secret police that they might be doing some kind of political mission from the Chinese government."

Chow said, " I really would like to tell the world that Hong Kong is still suffering and I hope the world would care, would keep their eyes on the situation of Hong Kong."