Hong Kong activist Tony Chung denied bail

Tony Chung, a former leader of Hong Kong pro-independence student group Studentlocalism, was denied bail after being charged with secession under the city's national security law. Chung was seen in the 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 advocating for Hong Kong's independence. Confidence in Hong Kong's semi-autonomous status, promised to the city when China took control of the former British colony in 1997, has been shaken as mainland authorities moved to impose a national security law over the territory this summer.

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

(Image Credits: AP)