Hong Kong Court Convicts Pro-Democracy Activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung on National Security Charges

A Hong Kong court has found two pro-democracy activists guilty on national security charges in a trial widely viewed as exemplifying the erosion of freedom of expression in the Chinese city.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were found guilty of “incitement to subversion” for their role in organising candlelit vigils to mark Beijing’s deadly 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, in a Hong Kong court on Friday. The two had pleaded not guilty and were charged in 2021. The pair could face up to 10 years in jail, with sentencing expected at a later date.

Prosecutors argued that the pair “endanger[ed] national security in the name of human rights”. Chow, a human rights barrister who represented herself, told the court in May that the law itself was on trial. Friday’s verdict was “no surprise”, said Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, who described Lee and Chow as “true Chinese patriots” who were silenced.

For three decades, the candlelight vigil organised by the alliance was the only large-scale public commemoration of the Tiananmen crackdown, drawing tens of thousands of people annually. The event was banned in 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, weeks before Beijing imposed the security law on Hong Kong.

In a personal blog published in the days leading up to the verdict, Chow detailed her harsh treatment by correctional services, describing significant pain during her long detention due to physical restraints. Chow remains one of the few high-profile political prisoners detained in Hong Kong to continue speaking out publicly.