Hong Kong charged three leading protest figures yesterday amid fears the authorities were using the coronavirus outbreak to crack down on dissent while demonstrations were unlikely due to concerns over spreading the illness.

Hong Kong charged prominent Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai and two leading opposition politicians with illegal assembly over a pro-democracy march last year.

The protests last year calling for reforms in semi-autonomous Hong Kong crippled its economy and put its Beijing-backed leaders and police force under unprecedented pressure.

Benedict Rogers, founder and chairman of Hong Kong Watch, said it was "entirely conceivable" that the decision to bring charges was taken now as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

He said: "[It is] a time when Hong Kongers are less likely to come out in large numbers in protest and when the international community is focused on the health emergency, so perhaps the government hoped to bury the news. But this news must not be buried, for it represents a further dramatic erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms."

"Well, the Hong Kong situation is getting tense here, but we have to go on, we have to go on," Mr Lai himself told reporters after speaking with officers. The three left the police station after being charged and are to appear in court on May 5. They could face up to five years in prison along with fines.