A Hong Kong court found two activists guilty on Friday of inciting others to subvert state power under the city's national security law. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were convicted for their roles in organizing annual vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. A third defendant, 74-year-old Albert Ho, pleaded guilty to the charges in January.
The defendants were leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance (HKA), an organization founded in May 1989 to support pro-democracy student rallies in Beijing. For three decades, the HKA held vigils in Victoria Park calling for democratic reform and government accountability for the 1989 crackdown. While Hong Kong was previously one of the few places in Chinese territory where such gatherings were permitted, authorities banned the events in 2020, citing Covid-19 policies. The gatherings have not resumed since the introduction of the national security law that same year.
According to a court summary released Friday, Lee and Chow were found to have incited others to plan or participate in unlawful acts intended to subvert state power. Both activists have been in custody since being charged in 2021. Chow argued during the proceedings in May that the national security law itself was on trial, while her legal team previously successfully challenged a separate conviction related to a 2021 vigil ban. Sentencing for the current conviction is expected at a later date, with a maximum possible penalty of 10 years in prison.
The scale of the events previously organized by the defendants involved thousands of participants who gathered annually in Victoria Park. The legal shift marks a concrete change in the rights of residents to hold public commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square events, which remain banned in mainland China. Residents who previously participated in these vigils now face a legal environment where such activities are classified as subversion of state power, a change that became effective with the implementation of the law in 2020.
The case sets a precedent for how the national security law is applied to organized dissent and historical commemorations. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have criticized the law's definitions as "overly broad," while Hong Kong authorities state the measures are necessary to maintain stability. The next step in this legal process will be the sentencing hearing, though a specific date has not yet been reported. Lee and Chow remain in custody pending that decision.