Hong Kong court convicts Tiananmen vigil organizers of incitement to subversion
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court on Friday convicted two pro-democracy activists who led the annual Tiananmen vigil of incitement to subversion, in a verdict that drew sharp international condemnation and raised fresh concerns about the crackdown on dissent under Beijing's national security law.
Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were found guilty by a three-judge panel for their leadership of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which organized the candlelight gatherings in Victoria Park that had become the city's most visible symbol of remembrance for the June 4, 1989 crackdown.
The judges ruled that the pair had committed acts constituting "overthrowing or undermining" China's constitutional system and incited supporters to use "unlawful means" with the aim of subverting state power. They face up to ten years in prison; sentencing was adjourned, with mitigation arguments expected next week.
Lee and Chow, who sat silently as the verdict was read, have been held since their 2021 charge under the Beijing-imposed national security law. They rejected the charge, arguing that the "democratic transition" they advocated did not exclude Communist Party leadership.
The verdict cements the end of public commemoration of the deadly 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Hong Kong, which had long been the only place under Chinese control where such vigils were allowed. Since the national security law was imposed in 2020, after months of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests, police have barred the annual gathering.
A widening legal net
Legal experts said Friday's ruling sharpens an already broad national security statute, allowing prosecutors to target speech and advocacy rather than overt acts. Eric Lai, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Asian Law, said the "incitement to subversion" charge gives weight to intentions over actions. "Moderation of method offers no protection if the objective itself is held to be unconstitutional," Lai said.
The case has been widely cited as evidence of Hong Kong's shrinking civic space. Urania Chiu, a law lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, told AFP it "sends a powerful and chilling message to civil society: any critique of the state and its policies, however peacefully made, is no longer welcome in Hong Kong."
Amnesty International spokesman Fernando Cheung called the ruling "another grim milestone in the government's deliberate campaign" to erase the legacy of the Tiananmen vigil activists.
Reaction
Outside court, Lee's wife, former union leader Elizabeth Tang, said she was "furious, angry... because I don't think he's guilty." Chow's mother, Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun, said she hoped "the environment will become healthier, that flowers of all colours can bloom."
Chief Superintendent Steve Li of the police's National Security Department welcomed the ruling and said the Hong Kong Alliance "spent years planting seeds of hatred against the Chinese Communist Party and the central government."
The United States, Britain, France and Germany all condemned the ruling, with Washington calling for Lee and Chow's immediate release. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said "people should be allowed to speak and protest and demonstrate peacefully without fear of arrest and prosecution," according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as part of its territory, urged China to "stop political persecution."
A third defendant in the case, 74-year-old former lawmaker Albert Ho, pleaded guilty in January, a move that typically results in a reduced sentence.
Beijing has defended the national security law as necessary to restore order in Hong Kong after the 2019 protests, and officials say the judicial process is a matter of law, not politics. But Friday's verdict is likely to deepen international pressure on the city's legal system and reinforce the image, among critics, of a once-free society now tightly constrained.