Hong Kong activist Tony Chung denied bail

Tony Chung, a former leer of Hong Kong pro-independence student group Studentlocalism, was denied bail after being charged with secession under city's national security law. Chung was seen in back of a police van arriving at West Kowloon Magistrates' Court Thursday.

Chung was arrested and detained Tuesday, his second arrest in months after he was first apprehended in July over social media content vocating for Hong Kong's independence. Confidence in Hong Kong's semi-automous status, promised to city when China took control of former British colony in 1997, has been shaken as mainland authorities moved to impose a national security law over territory this summer.

law, which was imposed on Hong Kong by central Chinese government and took effect on June 30, is widely seen as a means to curb dissent after anti-government protests rocked city for months last year. 

(Im Credits: AP)