Ministers defended the need for new measures in Hong Kong’s draft homegrown security law as the public consultation period on Article 23 – as it is colloquially known – drew to a close, with journalists and others expressing fears the new legislation may curb free speech.

Veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu was jailed for nine months under the colonial-era sedition law for a protest that did not take place, artistic performances were cancelled over national security concerns, and members of the group which used to organise Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen vigils must wait until November at the earliest to face trial.

HKFP rounds up these events, and others, in the 44th month since Beijing imposed its own national security legislation on the city, criminalising secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.

Hong Kong’s proposed new security law

Article 23 consultation period ends

Just over four weeks after Chief Executive John Lee, justice minister Paul Lam and security chief Chris Tang unveiled a public consultation paper for Hong Kong’s homegrown security law, the public consultation period closed on February 28.

According to the Security Bureau, almost 99 per cent of submissions received expressed support for the forthcoming security law. Authorities said they received 13,147 submissions, around 15 per cent of the more than 90,000 views received during the same exercise in 2002.

Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that the government shall enact laws on its own to prohibit acts that endanger national security. Its attempt to introduce such legislation failed in 2003 following mass protests and it remained taboo until after Beijing imposed its own security law in June 2020.

Despite Lee’s assertion that a “majority” of opinions expressed had been supportive of the need for further security legislation – including those expressed by the head of the city’s anti-graft body and the prison services chief – there were some who expressed concerns.

After attending several closed-door seminars to explain the impending law to various sectors of society, including diplomats and representatives of foreign and local chambers of commerce, Tang said participants had questions about two proposed offences: “theft of state secrets” and “external interference.”

One of Hong Kong’s last remaining pro-democracy parties, the League of Social Democrats, was among few local groups to raise concerns about the security law, citing the legislation’s potential impact on freedoms.

Possible public interest defence for ‘state secrets’ leaks

Hong Kong will consider whether a “public interest” exemption should be included in the theft of state secrets offence, security minister Tang said. He noted that some people thought leaks on matters of “significant public interest” should be exempt from prosecution.

“We will give it thorough consideration after hearing from the public,” Tang said.

The following day, Hong Kong Bar Association Chairman Victor Dawes said that authorities should “definitely consider” including such a defence in the legislation. The Law Society of Hong Kong also recommended allowing a public interest defence.

Journalists’ ‘feel in danger’

The city’s largest press group, the Hong Kong Journalists Association, expressed concern that the new national security law could have “far-reaching implications” for the press and urged the government to provide protections for reporters. Its chair Ronson Chansaid during a talk at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club that the “vague” legislative proposals for Article 23 had caused journalists working in the city to “feel in danger.”

Preliminary results from a survey by the HKJA showed that more than 90 per cent of respondents believed the legislation would have a significant impact on their work.

One of those impacts was cited by the secretary for justice, who warned media outlets to be “cautious” and consider whether elements of “abetting” were involved when interviewing wanted Hong Kong activists, as it may amount to giving them a platform to express views in breach of national security.

Existing sedition penalties ‘insufficient’

The upcoming national security law should increase the penalties for sedition, security minister Tang said, describing the current two-year maximum prison term for a first offence as “insufficient.”

According to the Article 23 consultation paper, “seditious intention” should cover incitement of hatred against “the fundamental system of the State, ” which is defined as “the socialist system led by the Communist Party of China” according to the Constitution of China.

It also penalises the intention to incite hatred “amongst residents of HKSAR” or “among residents of different regions of China.”

Tang acknowledged that some Hongkongers were worried that criticising the government may be deemed sedition under the new legislation. “I want to state again, this will not happen. The sedition law exists now, targeting seditious and provocative speech; criticism which is based on fact and appropriate will not violate the law,” Tang said.

Foreign feedback on Article 23

In mid-February, senior government adviser Regina Ip noted what she called a lack of international criticism over plans for new security legislation.

“So far, not a single country has issued a statement [since] we published the consultation document,” Ip said.

Days later, the government issued a statement condemning what it called "deliberate smears" after a group of international NGOs said the proposed law would "bring further devastating consequences for human rights" in Hong Kong.

“The proposed law includes a number of procedural changes that will dramatically undermine the Hong Kong people’s due process and fair trial rights,” said the joint statement signed by groups based in countries including the US, UK and Canada.

After the public consultation period closed, local press groups, foreign governments and overseas monitoring groups made their submissions public, with many criticising the proposed provisions as being too broad and lacking protection for journalistic activities.

Worries law will 'mainlandise' Hong Kong

Justice chief Lam denied that the legislation would “mainlandise” the city. “I disagree with [this concern] 100 per cent,” Lam said after attending a press conference with selected media outlets, not including HKFP.

“[Hong Kong] worked on the legislation independently, applying the rules of common law. Common law is a characteristic of Hong Kong, a totally different system from that of mainland China,” Lam said.

Trial of Jimmy Lai continues

Chan Pui-Man testifies for the prosecution

The trial of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai - accused of two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the national security law and one charge of sedition - continued throughout February.

Chan Pui-man, who was associate publisher of Lai's pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily before it shut down in June 2021, spent most of the month testifying for the prosecution against her former boss. She is among six senior Apple Daily staff to have pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and will be sentenced after the 80-day trial is completed.

Chan said Lai had told Apple Daily staff to play up the business sector's concerns about a proposed amendment to the extradition law, which sparked widespread protests in the city, and to highlight Beijing's alleged cover-up of Covid-19.

She testified that Lai's political activism had grown after the 2014 Umbrella Movement, a 79-day civil disobedience campaign that called on the authorities to give Hongkongers the right to vote for their leaders.

Lai, 76, who has been detained since December 2020, is currently serving a separate five-year and nine-month sentence for fraud in a maximum security prison. He faces life in prison if convicted under the security law.

US diplomats' statement sparks condemnation

Four former US consuls-general in Hong Kong expressed “dismay and concern” about the trial after a fellow former diplomat was named as a “co-conspirator.”

Richard Boucher, Stephen Young, Richard Mueller and James Keith said they valued Beijing’s promises of One Country, Two Systems and had supported the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. But seeing a leading journalist being tried for what they termed normal journalistic practice “sullies the reputation and brilliance that Hong Kong once enjoyed.”

In response, the city's government warned that making a statement with the intent to obstruct the course of justice would likely constitute the offence of contempt of court.

“The suggestion that certain individuals or groups should be immune from legal consequences for their illegal acts is no different from advocating a special pass to break the law, and this totally runs contrary to the spirit of the rule of law,” a spokesperson said.

Protest as US official meets Hong Kong activists

Pro-Beijing groups staged a protest at the US consulate in Hong Kong after a senior US official in Washington met four self-exiled Hong Kong activists wanted by the city’s national security police.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, met Elmer Yuen, Anna Kwok, Frances Hui and Joey Siu, who are accused of violating the national security law and are wanted by police.

Wanted activist Ted Hui declared bankrupt

One of the 13 overseas activists for whom national security police have offered a HK$1 million bounty, Ted Hui, was declared bankrupt.

Hui was found guilty in June 2022 of four counts of contempt of court over his absence from legal proceedings after he left the city while on bail. He was handed a three-and-a-half year jail term in absentia that September and ordered to pay legal costs.

High Court Master Kent Yee issued a bankruptcy order on February 6, saying the activist had never responded to requests that he pay legal costs. Hui, who now lives in Australia, was not represented at the hearing.

Activist Agnes Chow wanted by police

Pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, who in December said she had moved to Canada and would not be returning to the city to meet her bail conditions, is wanted by the police.

Chow was due to report to the city’s police force on December 29, but earlier told a Japanese broadcaster she did not think she could ever return to Hong Kong.

Speaking during a press briefing about the city’s crime rate for 2023 - which rose by almost 30 per cent - Andrew Kan, deputy commissioner of the national security department, was asked whether Chow was now officially wanted by police.

“No fugitive should harbour the illusion that they can leave Hong Kong and evade criminal responsibility,” Kan said. “Unless… Ms. Chow surrenders, she will be pursued for the rest of her life.”

Chow was arrested alongside media tycoon Lai and others in August 2020 on suspicion of “collusion with external elements” under the national security law. She was released without charge and granted bail on condition she hand her passport over to police.

In a social media post published last December from Canada, Chow said police had returned her passport on condition that she travel with five police officers to mainland China to learn about the country’s achievements.

Activist Koo Sze-yiu jailed over planned protest

Veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu was sentenced to nine months in jail over a plan to protest against the overhauled District Council race last December.

Koo, 78, was convicted of “attempting or preparing to do an act with a seditious intention” under the colonial-era sedition law over a planned protest against the local elections. Opposition candidates were shut out following an electoral overhaul that guaranteed only “patriots” could govern.

The court heard that Koo had notified the Registration and Electoral Office of his plan to demonstrate outside the building, but was arrested by national security police hours before he was set to go ahead.

Koo has cancer and has an operation scheduled for March or April.

Pro-Beijing activist calls for security law 'clarity'

Pro-Beijing activist Chan-Ching sum petitioned visiting top Chinese official Xia Baolong, calling for clarification on “soft resistance” and the “bottom line” of the national security law. She said a lack of certainty about what was allowed had left Hongkongers afraid to speak up.

“Since Beijing imposed the national security law in Hong Kong, the general public has had a lot of questions," she said. “I want to ask the central government and the [Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office] director Xia, as Beijing delivered the national security law, what is its bottom line? Which kinds of speech violate the law? The general public is uncertain and we dare not speak up. We feel unsafe.”

November trial for Tiananmen vigil organisers?

The national security trial involving three members of the group that held annual candlelight vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown will begin no earlier than November.

Chow Hang-tung, Albert Ho, and Lee Cheuk-yan - former members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China - were charged in September 2021 with inciting others “to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the State power.”

A panel of designated national security judges in February set dates for the defence and the prosecution to exchange reports, with the submission deadline being November 4, 2024.

Chow Hang-tung ordered to serve out sentence

The High Court ordered Chow to serve the remainder of a 15-month jail term for inciting others to take part in an unauthorised assembly relating to a Tiananmen crackdown vigil in 2021, after the city’s top court overturned her acquittal last month.

She has been detained since her arrest in September 2021 pending trial under the security law.

Performing arts crackdown

Hong Kong performing arts group Fire Makes Us Human announced it would suspend operations, after a venue it planned to use for two productions was withdrawn following government pressure.

The Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity told HKFP the Education Bureau had cited updated guidelines on national security when it asked the school to cancel an agreement to rent performance space to Fire Makes Us Human.

Later in February, the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts scrapped a graduation show featuring the play Accidental Death of an Anarchist, saying it had been cancelled due to “changes in the Academy’s production plan.”

The play by Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo was scheduled to be performed between mid-February and early March. Local media reported that the cancellation left some of those involved feeling “helpless” and “speechless.”

And a deaf dance group said it was “saddened” after a charity arts organisation called off three performances scheduled for March, citing “changes in production arrangements.”

Speculation over the cancellation emerged after Fun Forest’s founder Jason Wong Yiu-pong shared on social media a screenshot of a Facebook status, which claimed that the show had been halted by the sponsor, the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

According to the screenshot, the performance was cancelled after it was discovered that the producer of the dance show had taught people to sing the 2019 protest song Glory to Hong Kong in sign language.

Glory to Hong Kong appeal

More than 30 online links related to Glory to Hong Kong should be ruled as illegal, government lawyers argued in an appeal against a lower court’s refusal to issue an injunction banning the protest anthem.

Internet service providers would only remove versions of Glory to Hong Kong if the court declared them to be in breach of the national security law, Senior Counsel Benjamin Yu said. The injunction lists 32 versions.

Yu argued that the videos were seditious and secessionist in nature and were intended to distort China’s national anthem. If these videos continued to be disseminated, it would endanger national security, he said.

In June 2023, Hong Kong authorities sought a court order to bar anyone from distributing Glory to Hong Kong with the intention of inciting secession or sedition, or violating the national anthem law, and to block anyone from assisting with those acts.

Latest prosecution and arrest figures

As of February 23, 291 people had been arrested for suspected breaches of national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 174 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.

Of those charged, 111 people – including 32 charged under the security law – have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.

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On January 30, exactly 43 months since Beijing’s national security law came into force in Hong Kong, the city began the process of enacting its own domestic security legislation as required by Article 23 of its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

The high-profile trial of pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai continued last month, more family members of wanted overseas activists were questioned by national security police, and a man was jailed for wearing a “seditious” shirt with a slogan popularised during the 2019 protests.

Article 23

Chief Executive John Lee, Secretary for Security Chris Tang, and Secretary for Justice Paul Lam launched a public consultation period for Hong Kong’s homegrown security law on January 30.

Addressing reporters in front of a purple backdrop proclaiming “Safeguarding National Security: Basic Law Article 23 Legislation,” the officials said that Hong Kong had waited 26 years to fulfil its “constitutional duty” and could delay the domestic security law no longer.

A previous attempt to enact the legislation failed in 2003 following mass protests. It was not tabled again until after the passage of the Beijing-imposed security law in 2020, which authorities say has restored stability to the city.

“While society as a whole looks calm and very safe, we still have to watch out for potential sabotage and undercurrents that try to create trouble,” Lee said.

Although establishment lawmakers and business groups were quick to express support for the proposed legislation, democracy advocates and the foreign commerce sector raised concerns about its potential impact on civil liberties.

The proposed Safeguarding National Security ordinance will cover five offences: treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets and espionage, sabotage endangering national security, and external interference.

According to a document published to coincide with the consultation period, some offences will be amended from existing legislation – such as those pertaining to theft of state secrets – while others will be newly added crimes to address what Lee has described as “emerging risks.”

The definition of state secrets provided in the consultation paper was near-identical to that in China’s law on Guarding State Secrets, which Beijing sought to overhaul last year to expand its scope. 

After concerns were raised about whether journalists might be accused of leaking state secrets in the course of their work, Tang said the government would consider an exemption for leaks regarding matters of “significant public interest.”

Jimmy Lai trial

The closely-watched trial of Jimmy Lai, the founder of shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, continued in January, with the first of his former employees taking the stand to testify against him.

The 76-year-old media mogul, who has been detained since December 2020, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under Beijing’s national security law and one sedition charge. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Cheung Kim-hung, who was the publisher of Apple Daily and has pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, told the court that Lai wanted the tabloid’s English-language edition to be “more extreme” in its anti-China sentiment than the Chinese-language publication.

Cheung also testified that Lai was the paper’s “helmsman,” steering its editorial direction to take its push for US sanctions against Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials “to the extreme,” adding that Lai was not a boss it was easy to say no to.

The defence has accused Cheung of providing “contradictory” testimony in the hope of placing greater blame on Lai and thus himself receiving a lighter sentence.

Man jailed over ‘seditious’ shirt

A Hong Kong man, Chu Kai-poon, 26, was jailed for three months on January 10 for wearing a “seditious” T-shirt at the airport bearing the protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” The phrase was ruled in 2021 as capable of inciting secession.

He had pleaded guilty to one count of “doing an act or acts with seditious intention” and another count of “possessing seditious publications” under the colonial-era sedition law.

Chu was arrested near a boarding gate last November, after he was seen wearing the shirt. Police also found three flags that bore the same slogan – as well as another T-shirt that had “Hong Kong independence” printed on it – in his possession.

Man arrested over online posts

National security police arrested a man for suspected sedition in connection with statements he made on popular online forum LIHKG.

Tsang Kwok-hei, 35, was detained in Sha Tin on January 18. Police said he repeatedly published posts with “seditious intention” on social media platforms, promoting hatred towards Beijing and the Hong Kong government.

Police question activists’ family members

Hong Kong-based family members of overseas activists Simon Cheng and Frances Hui were questioned by national security police soon after Cheng and Hui were listed as wanted by the National Security Department.

They were among five people whom police said were suspected of violating the national security law, bringing the total number of self-exiled Hongkongers with arrest warrants and HK$1 million bounties on their heads to 13.

Hong Kong rights under UN microscope

Hong Kong’s chief secretary defended Beijing’s national security law at a review of the human rights records of United Nations member states, as some national representatives and rights NGOs called for the legislation to be repealed.

A total of 162 stakeholders on January 23 made submissions for China’s Universal Periodic Review, a process under which member states undergo a peer review of their human rights records every 4.5 years.

Eleven NGOs – including the Washington-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, Hongkongers in Britain, the Edinburgh-based Hong Kong Scots, the Geneva-based International Service for Human Rights, and Hong Kong Watch in the UK – recommended that Hong Kong repeal the national security law.

Other recommendations included restoring defendants’ rights to choose their own lawyer and opt for trial by jury in national security cases, restoring the presumption in favour of bail in such cases, and stopping “intimidation, harassment and attacks on human rights lawyers”.

Chief Secretary Eric Chan, attending the meeting as Deputy Head of China’s delegation to the human rights council, said stability and law and order had been restored following the implementation of the security legislation and an electoral overhaul.

Crackdown on creative industry

A Hong Kong performing arts group was left without a venue for two plays after the school that was hosting them was told by the city’s Education Bureau (EDB) to cancel the agreement, citing national security guidelines.

Performing arts group Fire Makes Us Human hired a venue from the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity (HKICC) to put on two stage plays in early February. However, the EDB told the school to cancel its agreement with the arts group after reportedly receiving complaints.

Funding pulled for drama awards

Separately, Hong Kong’s official arts council withdrew support for an annual drama awards ceremony, citing “inappropriate” arrangements last year and warning the organisers they must not breach the law.

Kenneth Fok, chair of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and a lawmaker, told reporters on January 18 the council was a government-funded body and hence had to be “especially cautious” about its use of public funds.

Another student union disbands

The students’ union of a college at the Chinese University of Hong Kong announced it would halt operations in February, after representatives said the requirement to register with police as a legal society would create “unprecedented risks and responsibilities.”

The representative council of CW Chu College said in a notice dated January 15 it had been informed by the college management that it must register with police as a legal society immediately.

Justice department deletes security law case list

Days after publishing an online database of national security cases, the Department of Justice deleted it without explanation.

The index included summaries of 106 national security  cases that had been completed since Beijing inserted the legislation into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020.

The department did not respond when asked why the content was removed and whether it would be restored.

National security remains ‘priority’ for 2024

John Lee laid out the government’s key goals for 2024 in early January, saying he aimed to boost the economy and improve people’s lives. The city’s number two official Eric Chan, meanwhile, said safeguarding national security would “continue to be a priority.”

District Councillors told to support Article 23

A new new team of 470 district councillors on January 1 swore allegiance to the city and its mini-constitution, with Lee saying they must support Hong Kong’s own security law.

“As members of district governance, all of you will take an oath to uphold the Basic Law. You must work together to support the legislation of Article 23, to support the government in fulfilling its constitutional responsibility,” Lee said in Cantonese during the oath-taking ceremony.

‘Expats’ show unavailable in Hong Kong

A new Amazon Prime Video show, Expats, starring Nicole Kidman and partly filmed in Hong Kong was not accessible in the city despite its “worldwide” release. One episode includes scenes depicting the Umbrella protest movement of 2014.

The reason for the omission was unclear. In 2021, Hong Kong passed censorship laws forbidding broadcasts that might breach the national security law. While those rules do not cover streaming services, authorities have warned that online platforms are still subject to the legislation.

Episodes from The Simpsons that satirised the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and forced labour in China were previously found to be missing from the Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong.

Latest prosecution and arrest figures

As of January 19, 291 people had been arrested for suspected breaches of national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 174 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.

Of those charged, 111 people – including 32 charged under the security law – have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.

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In the 42nd month since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong – criminalising secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism – one of the most high-profile trials to date finally got underway following more than a year of delays and debate.

National security police also issued more arrest warrants and HK$1 million bounties for overseas activists, and one of the pro-democracy movement’s best-known faces – Agnes Chow – broke a lengthy silence to announce that she had left Hong Kong and would not be coming back.

Trial against media magnate Jimmy Lai begins

The national security trial against detained media mogul Jimmy Lai opened on December 18 amid a heavy police presence and calls for his release from international governments.

Lai, who recently marked his 76th birthday in a high-security prison, stands accused of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the national security legislation, and taking part in a conspiracy to publish “seditious” materials under the city’s colonial-era sedition law. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

See also: Closely-watched national security trial of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai finally set to start

His defence team kick-started proceedings by arguing that the sedition charge should be dismissed as it had been laid against him outside of the six-month statute of limitations stipulated by the law. The court, however, sided with the prosecution, which said that the sedition charge had been filed to the court within the allotted time-frame.

More arrest warrants for overseas activists

Hong Kong’s national security police announced arrest warrants for five more overseas activists on December 14, placing HK$1 million bounties on their heads and bringing the total number of self-exiled Hongkongers wanted over alleged national security offences to 13.

Those named in December were: Simon Cheng, Frances Hui, Joey Siu, Johnny Fok, and Tony Choi.

Arrests for allegedly financing wanted democrats

Four people were arrested by national security police on December 13 over links to activists Nathan Law and Ted Hui, who were among the eight whose arrest warrants were announced in July.

The four, aged 29 to 68, were said to have provided financial assistance to Law and Hui via an online subscription platform between December 2020 and November 2023, with the amounts involved ranging from HK$10,000 to HK$120,000.

Agnes Chow leaves Hong Kong

Pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, who was jailed over her role in the 2019 protests and unrest, revealed on December 3 that she had moved to Canada and would not return to Hong Kong to meet her bail conditions.

Chow had been arrested in 2020 alongside pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai and accused of “colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security,” but was released on bail without charge, with police keeping her passport as part of her bail conditions.

Before leaving for Canada, Chow said she had been required to travel to mainland China with five police officers to learn about China’s achievements as a condition to get her passport back.

Tony Chung flees to the UK

On December 28, Hong Kong activist Tony Chung announced that he had left the city for the UK to seek political asylum, following the completion of his jail term earlier in 2023 over a national security offence.

The 22-year-old said that, as part of supervision rules since his release from prison in June, he was barred from leaving “the country” for one year. But he managed to seek permission from the Correctional Services Department to travel to Japan for Christmas. From there, he bought a flight to the UK.

Chow Hang-tung wins prize, again denied bail

Pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung, who has been detained for two years under the national security law, was awarded a human rights prize by the foreign ministries of France and Germany on December 12. The government said in a statement the following day that it firmly opposed the “so-called ‘human rights and rule of law’ prize being awarded to Chow Hang-tung.”

Later that month, a Facebook support group for Chow claimed that she had again been placed in solitary confinement after receiving “too many letters.”

In October, an international rights NGO expressed its concern after learning that Chow had reportedly been placed in solitary confinement six times since June.

Chow also appeared at Hong Kong’s High Court on December 21 to seek bail before her as-yet unscheduled trial for allegedly inciting subversion under Beijing’s sweeping security law.

Her application was dismissed, with the judge saying there were insufficient grounds to believe that she would not continue to endanger national security if bail were granted.

Glory to Hong Kong appeal

Protest song Glory to Hong Kong was mistaken as the city’s national anthem more than 800 times, a government lawyer said in an appeal against a lower court’s rejection of an injunction to ban unlawful acts relating to the song.

The song, dubbed the anthem of the 2019 protests, amounted to a “weapon” for people to threaten the authorities, Senior Counsel Benjamin Yu said on December 19, citing an interview the composer gave. He urged the Court of Appeal to reconsider prohibiting the dissemination of the song.

In June, Hong Kong authorities asked the court to grant an order to bar anyone from distributing Glory to Hong Kong with the intention to incite secession, sedition, or to violate the national anthem law, and anyone from assisting with those acts.

Protests against local elections thwarted

Three members of pro-democracy party the League of Social Democrats (LSD) were arrested on December 10 as they were on their way to protest the city’s “patriots-only” District Council election.

The group’s chairperson Chan Po-ying and vice-chairs Dickson Chow and Yu Wai-pan were taken to Central Police District Headquarters. Police later said three people, aged 31 to 67, had been arrested on suspicion of inciting others to intervene in the District Council elections.

Veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu was arrested days earlier over plans to protest what he called an “unfair” election, from which the opposition was effectively barred from running.

In a statement released on December 8, police said officers from its National Security Department had arrested a 77-year-old man in Cheung Sha Wan on suspicion of attempting or preparing to do an act with a seditious intention.

Around 1.19 million eligible electors cast ballots in the opposition-free election, a record-low turnout of 27.5 per cent, and a significant drop from the 71.2 per cent recorded during the last District Council election held in 2019 amid the extradition bill protests.

Chief Executive John Lee applauded the “good turnout,” claiming that there were still people who had attempted to “sabotage” the “patriots-only” race.

Removed devices see woman jailed

Marilyn Tang, the sister of former Hong Kong labour activist Elizabeth Tang, was jailed for six months on December 21, after she earlier pleaded guilty to removing electronic devices from her sister’s home following Elizabeth’s arrest under the national security law.

Elizabeth Tang, the former chief executive of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, is married to jailed pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk-yan. She was detained by national security police in March outside the prison where Lee was being held on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces.

Tong Ying-kit on national security show

Tong Ying-kit, the first person jailed under the national security law, featured in a Hong Kong police-promoted television special, saying he was swayed by the atmosphere in society when he committed his offence.

The programme, National Security Law – the Cornerstone of Prosperity and Stability, featured clips of Tong – who was sentenced to nine years in jail – in a prison courtyard and a cell.

It was the second time in a week that the programme had featured an apparent expression of regret by an inmate jailed as a result of the protests and unrest that began in 2019.

Tsang Chi-kin, a protester who was shot by police during clashes in 2019 and hid in safe houses for two years before a failed attempt to flee to Taiwan, also appeared in the series. He was sentenced to three years and 11 months in prison in October after he pleaded guilty to charges including rioting and perverting the course of justice.

Organisers of Tiananmen vigils appeal

Former organisers of Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen vigils appealed their conviction and four and a half month sentences over failing to comply with a data request from national security police.

Former vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China Chow Hang-tung, and two of the now-defunct group’s standing committee members Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong, appeared at the High Court’s Court of Appeal on December 6.

Lawyers representing the trio argued that the Alliance was not a foreign agent, and as a result, police had no right to demand information from the group.

47 democrats trial ended

Closing arguments in the city’s largest national security trial to date came to an end on December 4, 10 months after proceedings began against 16 defendants who pleaded not guilty to conspiring to commit subversion.

The 16 were among the 47 pro-democracy figures charged over their roles in an unofficial legislative primary election held in July 2020.

Most of the defendants have been detained since a marathon bail hearing in March 2021, after being taken into police custody on February 28, 2021. Prosecutors have alleged that the democrats intended to abuse their powers as lawmakers – if elected – to indiscriminately vote down government bills and paralyse government operations.

One of three handpicked national security judges presiding over the non-jury trial said a verdict would tentatively be delivered in three to four months. However, there were “no guarantees” that timeline would be met, as another of the judges would be on the panel of judges overseeing the trial against media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

Moody’s downgrades Hong Kong outlook rating

Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded its outlook on Hong Kong’s credit rating to negative from stable on December 6, citing – among other factors – the impact of the national security law.

“Following signs of reduced autonomy of Hong Kong’s political and judiciary institutions, notably with the imposition of a National Security Law in 2020 and changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system, Moody’s expects further erosion of [Hong Kong’s] autonomy of political, institutional and economic decisions to continue incrementally,” it said.

National security a ‘core value’ for civil servants

Upholding national security will become a “core value” for Hong Kong’s 175,000 civil servants, according to a proposed new code of conduct.

The Civil Service Bureau published a draft of its updated Civil Service Code on December 13. The 30-page document, twice as long as the current code, begins with stating that Hong Kong has entered “a new era in its governance” under the national security law and following an overhaul of the electoral system to ensure only “patriots” can lead the city.

Alongside values including passion for public service, integrity and professionalism, civil servants will also be required to uphold the constitutional order and national security.

National security law amended

The Hong Kong government amended the Beijing-imposed national security law to allow authorities to freeze assets of suspects and defendants charged under the legislation until all legal proceedings against them have concluded.

The Committee for Safeguarding National Security and Chief Executive John Lee announced on December 15 that they had amended the law with immediate effect.

“The amendments are technical in nature and the scope of the proposed amendments is extremely narrow,” a government spokesperson said in a statement. “After the amendment, the property right of the suspects and defendants of cases concerning offences endangering national security remains protected in accordance with the law.”

John Lee cites ‘soft resistance’ in security talk

Chief Executive John Lee said on December 6 that people who said that the government only focused on national security were committing “soft resistance.”

“Some people may put up ‘soft resistance,’ deliberately saying the government only focuses on a certain aspect like national security, and ignores the others. That’s ridiculous,” Lee  told government-funded broadcaster RTHK in Cantonese. “Look at my policies. There are policies on national security, but most of them are not about national security.”

Regina Ip on ‘soft resistance,’ more security laws

Executive Council Convenor Regina Ip discussed “soft resistance” and what she saw as a need for further security legislation in a launch episode of HKFP’s new podcast, Yum Cha.

Ip said that soft resistance was “hard to define.”

“I can’t really speak on behalf of the government… [authorities] have not really defined it very clearly, maybe because it’s hard to define,” Ip said. “[It] probably means not unlawful, definitely something marginal, in the grey area, not against the law, so that you can’t catch them, charge them with an offence, but somehow it’s against government.”

During her tenure as secretary for security, a position she assumed in 1998, Ip spearheaded efforts to pass Hong Kong’s own security law, known locally as Article 23 after the Basic Law. But mass protests in 2003 caused the legislation to be shelved and she stepped down.

Despite the 2020 national security law, Ip said it was still necessary for Hong Kong to enact its own security legislation to ensure that “all the security mechanisms are in place.”

“I think the sooner we complete enactment of Article 23 legislation the better,” Ip said, adding that the government would feel more “relaxed” after it had completed its duty.

Emily Lau on national security police visit

In the other launch episode of HKFP Yum Cha, veteran democrat Emily Lau discussed receiving an early morning visit from national security police at her home in 2021, and the impact the Beijing-imposed law had had on the city.

Lau also discussed challenging late UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher on the Sino-British Joint Declaration soon after it was signed in 1984, and how that encounter propelled the then-journalist into politics, and why young Hongkongers should be grateful for the work she and her peers did while part of the legislature.

Latest prosecution and arrest figures

As of December 29, 290 people had been arrested for suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 172 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.

Of them, 109 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing. Among those, 32 have been charged or are awaiting sentencing for offences under the national security law.

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In the 41st month since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong, criminalising secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism, debate arose over whether some national security trials could be transferred to mainland China if proposed new US sanctions become law.

Lawmakers in the US continued to criticise what they called the broad application of the legislation, claims that were denied by the government. Education authorities announced that children as young as eight would begin learning about the law in the city’s schools.

US calls for officials, judges to be hit by sanctions

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers was slammed by the Hong Kong government for introducing a bill to sanction 49 Hong Kong judges, prosecutors, and government officials “accountable for human rights violations.”

Congresswoman Young Kim, who chairs the US House Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific and was one of three legislators to introduce the Hong Kong Sanctions Act on November 1, said the aim was “to hold Hong Kong officials accountable for human rights violations and stand with Hongkongers facing scrutiny under Beijing’s ‘national security law’.”

She pointed to the impending national security trial of media mogul Jimmy Lai, saying his case was “unfortunately just the latest example of Beijing exploiting its ‘national security law’ to exert control of Hongkongers.”

The government was quick to respond, saying in a statement on November 3 that it “turns its nose up at these so-called ‘sanctions’ without any fear of intimidation, and it will continue to steadfastly fulfil its responsibility to safeguard national security.”

A separate report by a US Congressional commission released in mid-November said Hong Kong lived under mainland China’s control after Beijing interfered with the judicial system and weakened civil society. The assertions were denied by the government.

Article 55 debate

After the US lawmakers called for sanctions to be imposed on members of Hong Kong’s judiciary, pro-Beijing scholar Lau Siu-kai suggested that Beijing may step in to transfer “significant national security cases” for trial in mainland China under Article 55 of the law.

Lau, a consultant for semi-official Beijing think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said on November 5 that the central government had prepared “a last resort” in Article 55, which states that cases may be transferred to mainland Chinese jurisdiction under certain circumstances such as foreign interference.

Mainland China trial for Jimmy Lai?

Justice Secretary Paul Lam said however he was “100 per cent confident” that Hong Kong could handle the case against Jimmy Lai.

“Over the past three years, Hong Kong courts have handled trials of some national security cases. Can anyone who is reasonable say that judges did not adjudicate independently, remain loyal to their oath and pass sentence based on evidence and precedents? ” Lam said on November 10.

Later in the month, Lam declined to comment on whether the case against Lai might be transferred, saying it was a “hypothetical question.” But the power to decide on such transfers fundamentally lay with the central government as stipulated in the national security law, he said on November 19.

“Article 55, first and foremost, is an exceptional clause,” Lam said. “Article 40 states that offences under the security law would be handled in Hong Kong’s jurisdiction unless under the circumstances specified in Article 55.”

A ‘seditious’ shirt at the aiport

A 26-year-old man Chu Kai-poon was charged by national security police on November 29 over allegedly wearing “seditious” clothes at Hong Kong’s international airport. According to a government statement, the man was arrested near a boarding gate on November 27 after police “sped to the scene.

Local media citing sources reported that the man was wearing a T-shirt with the phrases “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and “Hong Kong independence is the only way out” on it.

Chu was denied bail at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts and will be remanded in custody until his next court appearance on January 4.

47 democrats: verdict in 3-4 months, probably

The prosecution in the landmark national security trial of 47 pro-democracy figures argued in high court on Wednesday for “a wide interpretation” of the security law as closing arguments began, almost 10 months after the trial got underway.

According to one of the judges, a verdict may be delivered in three to four months – around three years after most of the defendants were denied bail.

The trial against the 16 members of the group who pleaded not guilty to conspiring to commit subversion, over their roles in an unofficial primary election in July 2020, began in February. It had been adjourned since August, when the last defendant completed her testimony.

Catholic leaders call for Lai’s release

Calls by a group of foreign Catholic leaders for the immediate release of Lai, whose high-profile national security trial is set to get underway on December 18, were described as “misleading and slanderous” by the Hong Kong government.

The petition, dated November 1, was co-signed by Catholic leaders from the US, India, Australia, Lithuania, Canada, the UK, Ireland and Nigeria. They described the legal action against Lai, who is a Catholic, as “persecution” for his support for pro-democracy causes, saying the process “has gone on long enough.”

In response, the government said the following day it “firmly rejects and strongly disapproves of the fact-twisting remarks made by the foreign Catholic leaders to inappropriately interfere in the HKSAR’s internal affairs and the HKSAR courts’ independent exercise of judicial power.”

Familiar assurances for Article 23

Security chief Chris Tang said on November 5 that residents’ rights and freedoms would be protected after Hong Kong’s own security law is enacted next year, echoing assurances previously given about the Beijing-imposed national security law.

Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that the Hong Kong government shall enact laws on its own to prohibit acts of treason, secession, sedition and subversion against Beijing. Its attempted legislation failed in 2003 following mass protests and it was not tabled again until after the separate, Beijing-imposed security law came into force in 2020. Pro-democracy advocates fear it could have a negative effect on civil liberties.

“No matter whether it is the national security law, or the upcoming Article 23 legislation, we will definitely safeguard people’s freedom of speech in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or other international covenants,” Tang said.

Days later, Tang rejected a lawmaker’s suggestion that Article 23 could replace the Beijing-imposed national security law, saying that “vigilance” was still needed.

“It’s not our intention to speak about national security or scare citizens, but we must remain vigilant in peacetime,” Tang said on November 13, calling protests that erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill amendment a “lesson in blood.”

Bankruptcy petition filed against Ted Hui

The Hong Kong government in late November filed a bankruptcy petition against self-exiled former lawmaker Ted Hui, who was named in July as one of eight overseas pro-democracy figures wanted for alleged national security offences.

Last year, Hui, who fled the city in November 2020, was found guilty of contempt of court linked to his disappearance. The ex-lawmaker – who was on bail and facing nine criminal charges when he left Hong Kong – was accused of misleading police and the court into believing he would return to the city after a visit to Denmark, purportedly for a conference.

Stand News verdict delayed

The long-awaited verdict in the sedition case against Hong Kong outlet Stand News and two of its former editors has been postponed again pending a higher court’s ruling.

Despite already being almost two years since the online news outlet and the veteran journalists were charged under the colonial-era sedition law, district judge Kwok Wai-kin decided on November 15 to delay his verdict until after the Court of Appeal had ruled in a separate sedition case involving pro-democracy activist “Fast-Beat” Tam Tak-chi.

In July, the Court of Appeal said that it would deliver its judgement on Tam’s case within nine months.

4 months’ jail for calling for Xi Jinping’s downfall

Chow Man-wai, a 46-year-old clerk, was sentenced to four months in prison on November 23 after pleading guilty to “doing an act or acts with seditious intent” under the sedition law. 

He was said to have posted 49 “seditious comments” on online discussion forum LIHKG between March and September. These included calling for the overthrow of the Chinese Communist Party and the country’s leader Xi Jinping, as well as discussing killing top Chinese officials and bombing Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leadership compound.

Primary students to learn about security law

Hong Kong schoolchildren will start learning about the national security law from the age of eight or nine, the Education Bureau announced on November 23 as it unveiled a new humanities curriculum to be tested out in the next school year.

The new subject, which will replace General Studies, will require pupils to have a basic knowledge of the Beijing-enacted security legislation, the Hong Kong People’s Liberation Army garrison and national defence, the bureau announced.

Government appeals Chow Hang-tung acquittal

The Court of Final Appeal heard on November 22 the government’s appeal against thr acquittal of detained activist Chow Hang-tung on a charge of unauthorised assembly.

Chow, who has separately been charged with inciting subversion and detained under the national security law, should not have been able to challenge the legality of a police ban on the 2021 Tiananmen crackdown vigil in her criminal trial over the unauthorised commemoration, the prosecution argued.

The former chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the city’s annual vigils for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, has been detained since September 2021, when she was arrested and charged under the national security law. A trial date for the security case has yet to be set.

Lam Cheuk-ting

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, who is among the 47 pro-democracy figures accused of conspiring to commit subversion under the security law, was found on November 23 to have a case to answer in a separate trial linked to a mob attack in Yuen Long in 2019.

Lam and six others stand accused of rioting in Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2019. On that day, over 100 rod-wielding men dressing in white stormed the station and indiscriminately attacked commuters and journalists, leaving 45 people injured including Lam.

He has been remanded in custody over the national security charge since March 2021.

HKU student leaders

Four former University of Hong Kong student leaders, who were convicted over mourning a man who stabbed a police officer before taking his own life in July 2021, have sought to appeal their two-year sentences for incitement to wound.

Although originally arrested and charged in August 2021 with terrorism under the national security law, Anthony Yung, Charles Kwok, Kinson Cheung and Chris Todorovski pleaded guilty in September to an alternative charge of incitement to wound with intent.

They were each sentenced to two years in prison in October.

Latest prosecution and arrest figures

As of November 20, 285 people had been arrested for suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 171 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.

Of them, 101 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing. Among those, 32 have been charged or are awaiting sentencing for offences under the national security law.

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In the 40th month since the national security law was enacted, Hong Kong’s courts oversaw several sedition hearings. Although separate from the Beijing-imposed security legislation, prosecutions under the colonial-era sedition law have risen in lockstep since the former came into effect in June 2020.

Despite maintaining that stability has been restored to the city, authorities continue to say that threats to national security remain, vowing to legislate Article 23 – Hong Kong’s own security – law by the end of 2024. As to whether opposing the new law would violate the existing one? Hong Kong’s security chief has not given a clear answer.

New security law

Hong Kong leader John Lee said on October 25 that the city would legislate its own security law in 2024, four years after Beijing imposed a sweeping security law criminalising secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion. While authorities say the legislation has restored stability, critics say it has silenced dissent and freedom of expression.

Lee defended the government’s move to enact more security legislation, after vowing during his second Policy Address to roll out Article 23 of the Basic Law next year.

Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that the government shall enact laws on its own to prohibit acts of treason, secession, sedition and subversion against Beijing. Its legislation failed in 2003 following mass protests and it remained taboo until after the onset of the separate, Beijing-imposed security law in 2020. Pro-democracy advocates fear it could have a negative effect on civil liberties but the authorities say there is a constitutional duty to ratify it.

“The 2019 riots, black violence, and the attempted colour revolution happened because of the obvious vacuum situation on legislation regarding national security,” Lee said during a press conference after delivering his Policy Address on October 25.

When asked whether opposing the legislation of Hong Kong’s own security law would violate the national security law, security chief Chris Tang did not give a clear answer.

Patriotic education

Lee also announced that Hong Kong would roll out more patriotic education initiatives – including a revamped museum and a new festival – to ensure “continuity from generation to generation,” during this year’s Policy Address.

The Constitution and Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee will establish a working group on patriotic education, whilst the Leisure and the Culture and Services Department (LCSD) will establish a Chinese Culture Promotion Office.

The measures will be rolled out “with a view to enhancing education on our country’s history, culture and current affairs on different fronts, thereby promoting patriotism and ensuring its continuity from generation to generation,” Lee told lawmakers.

Lee’s announcement came after the Hong Kong government said it welcomed the adoption of China’s patriotic education law, which was passed by the country’s rubber-stamp legislature on October 24.

The law “sets out the main content of patriotic education, covering areas such as ideology and politics, history and culture, national symbols, the magnificent scenery and historical and cultural heritage of the motherland, constitution and law, national unity and ethnic solidarity, national security and defense, and the deeds of heroes and martyrs and role models,” a statement issued by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau read.

HKU student union

Four former student leaders of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) were jailed for two years each for incitement to wound over a controversial motion they passed to mourn a man who stabbed a police officer before taking his own life in July 2021.

HKU students Kinson Cheung, Charles Kwok, Chris Todorovski and Anthony Yung, who were remanded in custody last month, appeared before judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching for sentencing at District Court on October 30.

The four were originally charged with advocating terrorism, but prosecutors agreed to let them plead guilty to an alternative charge of incitement to wound with intent.

Jimmy Lai documentary

A documentary about pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai remains on YouTube despite a request from Hong Kong police to take it down, a transparency report published by US tech giant Google revealed in late October.

“In April 2023, we received a request from the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) to remove 5 videos featuring ‘The Hong Konger’, a documentary about an imprisoned activist from YouTube,” Google’s report read. “The HKPF alleged that the content was seditious in nature and violative of Crimes Ordinance, Cap. 200 and would amount to criminal contempt of Court as the activist’s trial was ongoing.”

The outcome of the request, according to Google was: “We did not remove the 5 videos from YouTube.”

Detained editor’s apology

Ryan Law, the detained former editor-in-chief of defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, issued a public apology for publishing reports alleging that two business executives were Chinese spies when the pair was involved in an espionage investigation in Taiwan four years ago.

Law’s statement came days after travel bans barring Chinese businessman Xiang Xin and his wife Kung Ching from leaving Taiwan were lifted.

The Apple Daily reports were published between November 23, 2019, and December 7, 2019 – when the pair was first arrested in Taiwan in connection with a Chinese espionage case.

Sedition in court

Hong Kong man Kurt Leung was sentenced to four months’ jail under the sedition law on October 6 after pleading guilty to importing 18 children’s books about sheep and wolves. The publications were said to be filled with “distorted ideas” and to have intended to incite hatred against the local and Chinese governments among young readers.

In the middle of October, 57-year-old Au Kin-wai was denied bail by a handpicked national security judge after he was arrested by Hong Kong national security police over allegedly posting content “with seditious intention” online.

Au appeared in front of Chief Magistrate Victor So on October 18 at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. He was charged with one count of “doing an act or acts with seditious intention” between April 19 and October 16 over allegedly posting “seditious” content on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.

In late October, Yuen Ching-ting, 23, pleaded guilty to publishing online speech with seditious intent.

Yuen, a second-year student at a university in Japan, was arrested by national security police after arriving in Hong Kong in early March. She was granted bail on a HK$10,000 cash bond and a long list of strict conditions related to social media use.

Owen Chow arrested again

Detained Hong Kong activist Owen Chow was arrested by national security officers, while on remand, on suspicion of “carrying unauthorised items out of a prison.”

Chow and one of his lawyers, Phyllis Woo, 30, appeared at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on October 31. They were charged on Friday over removing unauthorised articles from a prison.

‘Objectionable’ library content

Hong Kong public libraries are set to review their collections after more than 50 reports were made by the public about suspected “objectionable” content found in library books and other titles.

The government received reports under the new “Collection of Views on Library Collections” mechanism, launched in early July, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) said on October 19 in response to HKFP enquiries.

The library materials in question would be reviewed as soon as possible, and if they were found to contain “objectionable contents,” they would be removed from the shelves and withdrawn from the library collection.

Challenge to untaken oath

Hong Kong civil servant Wong Chau-ming, who was forced to retire after failing to take the government’s new loyalty oath on time, saw his attempt to challenge the move rejected in court on October 19.

The 47-year-old’s leave to appeal application centred around the government ordering his retirement from his post as an assistant taxation officer in August 2021, after he failed to sign and return a government loyalty declaration that was made mandatory following the national security law’s enactment.

Hong Kong announced in November 2020 that all civil servants would have to declare allegiance to the city as part of a new oath-taking requirement for employees.

AmCham asks for reassurance

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Hong Kong called on the government to provide “straightforward interpretations and applications” of the national security law in this year’s Policy Address.

In a 49-page document, the US chamber made a list of suggestions related to the security legislation, talent attraction, trade, financial services, housing and more.

“AmCham encourages the government to publish well-defined guidelines offering straightforward interpretations and applications of the National Security Law,” the chamber wrote.

“The Government should seek to reassure the business community that laws related to Hong Kong’s national security will be applied narrowly and consistent with the principles of an independent judiciary.”

Cost of national security

The salaries of close to 200 judges and judicial officers in Hong Kong went up by 3.62 per cent. The increase came after a report by the Judicial Committee in July said national security cases and those linked to the 2019 protests posed “mounting challenges” to the Judiciary’s resources and manpower.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of October 31, 285 people had been arrested for suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 170 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.

Among the 101 persons who have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing, 32 were charged under the national security law.

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In the 39th month since the national security law was imposed on Hong Kong, trials involving people from all walks of life continued. Students who expressed sympathy for a man who took his life after stabbing a police officer were taken into custody pending sentence, while a young mainland Chinese student was jailed for sedition over planning to display a large banner relating to the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

As Hong Kong prepared to celebrate China’s National Day on October 1, more family members of overseas activists were taken for questioning, as over 100 groups involved in further education were urged to safeguard national security.

Former student leaders in custody

Four former student leaders at the University of Hong Kong were remanded in custody while they await sentencing next month. They pleaded guilty to inciting others to wound by expressing sympathy for Leung Kin-fai, who took his own life after wounding a police officer in July 2021.

District Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching revoked the bail of Kinson Cheung, Charles Kwok, Chris Todorovski and Anthony Yung on September 20, after she heard their mitigation pleas  in the case concerning statements made at a student union council meeting on July 7, 2021.

The student body passed a resolution to mourn Leung’s death in Causeway Bay on July 1, 2021, when the city marked 24 years since its return to Chinese rule.

Mainland Chinese student jailed for sedition

A mainland Chinese postgraduate student was jailed for six months after she pleaded guilty to an attempted seditious act.

Law student Zeng Yuxuan, 23, was jailed on September 12. She admitted planning to unfurl a nine-metre long vertical banner with an image of the Pillar of Shame statue on it from a footbridge in Causeway Bay on June 4, the 34th anniversary of Beijing’s crackdown on student-led demonstrations in China.

The statue, which stood on the University of Hong Kong campus for decades, was created by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt to commemorate those who died when the People’s Liberation Army dispersed pro-democracy protesters on June 4, 1989. In May, it was seized by police as evidence for an “inciting subversion” probe.

Reporter sentenced to jail

Ronson Chan, the head of Hong Kong’s largest journalist group, was found guilty of obstructing a police officer while reporting last September and was sentenced to five days in prison before being granted bail pending appeal.

The veteran journalist and chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association appeared at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on September 25. He denied obstructing a police officer and an alternative charge of obstructing a public officer.

More family of overseas activists questioned

National security police took the father-in-law, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law of self-exiled democrat Ted Hui from their home in Yuen Long for questioning on September 12.

Hui is among the eight overseas activists wanted by Hong Kong national security police, with authorities offering a bounty of HK$1 million for each of the democrats.

After issuing arrest warrants in early July, the police have several times taken family members and friends of the overseas activists for questioning. By late August, at least 32 family members and associates had been questioned.

UK on the state of Hong Kong

Hong Kong authorities had expanded the use of the national security law “beyond genuine national security concerns,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a regular report on the state of the city on September 19. Cleverly aslo expressed disappointment over Beijing’s “ongoing state of non-compliance” with an agreement signed by China and Britain in 1984.

The Hong Kong government expressed its “strong” disapproval of the report, saying it “firmly rejected the groundless attacks, slanders and smears against the HKSAR” contained in the document.

Hong Kong consulate staff details

The Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry told all consulates in Hong Kong to pass on the job titles, residential addresses and identification details of all locally-employed staff in Hong Kong.

The letter, sent by the Hong Kong government at the request of the commissioner’s office and obtained by HKFP, gave each mission until October 18 to submit the details on an attached form. Additionally, missions were “requested to complete the form within 15 days of commencement of the engagement” of any new staff members.

China defended the request, saying it was “international common practice”.

“It’s understood that China’s consular bodies in foreign countries have also provided their local staff’s information in accordance with the local governments’ requests,” said a statement issued by the commissioner’s office.

100 groups asked to safeguard security

The Hong Kong government on September 19 requested over 100 schools and institutions to ensure that “all key personnel” involved in providing subsidised further education courses safeguard national security.

The Labour and Welfare Bureau revised the terms for all courses under the Continuing Education Fund, stating that with immediate effect all relevant groups must safeguard national security.

18 children’s books

A Hong Kong court on September 7 denied bail to a man charged with importing children’s books that were deemed seditious in a high-profile trial last year. He was said to have imported three copies each of The Guardians of Sheep Village, The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village, The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village, Voting Day in Sheep Village, The Architects of Sheep Village and Sheep Village Daily.

Kurt Leung, a 38-year-old clerk, was said to have intended to bring hatred to the central and Hong Kong governments, promote “feelings of ill-will and enmity” in Hong Kong, and incite violence.

Trial of Jimmy Lai

The Hong Kong government condemned remarks by overseas groups as slander after they called for the release of pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai on his 1,000th day in custody.

Lai will have been detained for three years when his high-profile national security trial gets underway in December.

The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, a group based in Washington DC, published a letter addressed to US President Joe Biden calling on him to urge the Hong Kong government to “immediately and unconditionally release” Lai.

Trial of 47 democrats

Two defendants in Hong Kong’s landmark national security case involving 47 democrats are set to return to court in October. The court is expected to hear the case against the pair, who changed their pleas to guilty ahead of the trial.

Former district councillor Ng Kin-wai and businessman Mike Lam, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit subversion, are scheduled to appear in court on October 5. The hearing is expected to take four days.

‘Seditious’ online content

A 46-year-old man was arrested by national security police in Hung Hom on September 18 and charged over suspected “seditious” online content the following day.

The office clerk was suspected of publishing 49 articles on discussion forum LIHKG calling for sanctions and violent action to be taken against officials, local media reported citing sources. National security police searched his home and seized electronic devices.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of September 15, 279 people had been arrested for suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 162 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.

Among the 90 persons who have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing, 30 were charged under the national security law.

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Hong Kong authorities continued their campaign against those with links to eight wanted overseas activists, with their family members and associates “taken” from their homes for offices for questioning. Additionally, 12 people with connections to a defunct 2019 protester relief fund were arrested almost two years after it ceased operations.

Landmark national security cases have been progressing slowly. The trial involving 47 high-profile democrats was adjourned to November to allow both sides to prepare closing arguments, while the trial against pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was postponed once again and is now set to resume in December.

Also, a Cantonese-language advocacy group closed after it received a warning from the national security police, and taxi drivers were called upon to join the city’s fight against terrorism.

12 people arrested with links to defunct fund

Four men and six women, aged 26 to 43, linked to the defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, set up to help Hong Kong protesters during the 2019 anti-extradition bill unrest, were arrested by national security police on August 10.

Among the 10 were former staff of the relief fund and members related to a group that offered medical services to protesters, local media reported. Police said they were suspected of “conspiring to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security” and inciting a riot.

Another two men, aged 33 and 59, were arrested by national security police over links to the fund on August 29.

The police said in a press release that both were suspected of “conspiracy to collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security” under the national security law and “conspiracy to incite others to commit riot.”

‘Taken for questioning’

Hong Kong national security police questioned the ex-wife, daughter and son of Elmer Yuen, one of the eight overseas activists for whom arrest warrants were issued and HK$1 million bounties were offered, local media reported citing sources on August 3.

Following this move, the parents of US-based Anna Kwok, who was also among the eight wanted by national security police, were taken to a police station on the morning of August 8.

On August 18, a woman named Yu Chi-yan and, the following day, the sister-in-law of another of the eight, wanted activist Nathan Law, were also questioned.

Two brothers of wanted activist Anna Kwok were taken for questioning on August 22.

By late August, at least 32 family members and associates of the eight self-exiled pro-democracy figures had been questioned by national security police.

An Asia-based legal group the Law Association For Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA) expressed concern over “the broad application” of the Beijing-imposed national security law, after the arrest warrants and HK$1 million bounties were announced last month.

In response, the administration has condemned unnamed “overseas legal professional” groups for “groundless attacks and slandering” against the sweeping security legislation and law enforcement actions.

Minimum national security sentences mandatory

Hong Kong’s top court ruled on August 22 that a guilty plea cannot be used in mitigation to reduce jail terms below the five-year minimum for “serious” security law offences, after a student who pleaded guilty to inciting secession was denied a customary sentence discount.

The Court of Final Appeal handed down its decision to Lui Sai-yu, a former Hong Kong Polytechnic University student. Lui was sentenced to five years in jail last April after being accused of inciting secession over selling weapons on messaging app Telegram and posting pro-independence messages, an offence the court considered of a “serious nature.”

Gov’t given second chance to ban protest song

A Hong Kong court granted the government permission to lodge another attempt to ban Glory to Hong Kong, an anthem that emerged from 2019 pro-democracy protests, after the initial bid was dismissed in July.

Officials in June requested an injunction to ban the song Glory to Hong Kong, penned anonymously at the height of the protests, to stop it from being performed or disseminated with criminal intent.

But in a surprise ruling in late July, the High Court refused the application, saying that an injunction would not be useful and would cause “chilling effects” on free expression.

The government said earlier in August that Hong Kong’s chief executive – not the city’s courts – should have the “greatest weight” in national security matters.

Cantonese-language group closes

A Cantonese-language advocacy group ceased operations after its founder Andrew Chan said his home had been raided by Hong Kong national security police over a fictional piece of writing that was submitted to a competition organised by the group.

Chan founded the Cantonese-language advocacy group Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis (SLHK) in 2013, when he was a second-year student at Hong Kong Baptist University. 

The group was established to promote Cantonese and “safeguard the linguistic rights of Hongkongers,” after policies were put forward to push Mandarin-language instruction in the city’s schools.

Security chief responds to Danish sculptor

Hong Kong’s security minister said he would not inform a thief that they were going to be arrested, after he was asked whether the city’s national security police had plans to arrest a Danish artist behind a 1989 Tiananmen crackdown monument on August 27 during a media briefing.

Citing sources, local newspaper Sing Tao reported that Hong Kong’s national security police planned to arrest Jens Galschiøt, who created the Pillar of Shame, if he travelled to the city, and transfer the artist to mainland China for trial, the report read.

Earlier in August, Hong Kong’s security chief claimed in a response to the Danish sculptor that people who sought to endanger national security commonly engaged in such acts under the pretext of “peaceful advocacy” and “artistic creations.”

Arts spaces must safeguard national security

Hong Kong NGOs were invited to submit proposals on August 21 to operate and maintain a historic listed building, which has been home to arts and cultural venue Fringe Club for 40 years.

In a 35-page project brief, the the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said the potential operator should safeguard national security. The term “national security” appears 22 times in the document.

Hong Kong’s “movie walk” – the Avenue of Stars – and Salisbury Garden located on the Tsim Sha Tsui harbourfront were also calling for proposals from potential operators.

New World Development’s agreement to operate the site expires in April next year, 20 years after the its opening in 2004. The developer, which devoted HK$40 million to the design and construction of the project, has been operating the Avenue of Stars since then.

Trial of Jimmy Lai

A Hong Kong court postponed the high-profile trial of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai once again to December 18, when one of the handpicked judges is expected to have finished presiding over another landmark national security case involving 47 democrats.

The rescheduling of the trial, which was supposed to begin last December before being adjourned to September, was to ensure that national security Judge Alex Lee would be done with another national security trial before the start of Lai’s case.

The 75-year-old media tycoon faces three charges: two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the security law, and one offence linked to allegedly seditious publications. 

Lai was ordered earlier this month to pay the cost of his “unreasonable” litigation conduct concerning two failed legal challenges in his bid to ask a local court to prevent Beijing’s interpretation of the national security law from affecting an earlier ruling that allowed him to be represented by UK lawyer Timothy Owen at his upcoming trial.

47 democrats’ trial

The national security trial relating to 47 Hong Kong pro-democracy figures was adjourned to November for the prosecution and defence to prepare closing arguments. It came after the last defendant completed testifying in the case surrounding an unofficial legislative primary poll held in 2020.

In August, Hong Kong activist Owen Chow; Lee Yue-shun, a member of the since-disbanded Civic Party; and Winnie Yu– the former chairperson of a pro-democracy medics’ union delivered their testimony.

National security hotline

Hong Kong’s national security police received over 380,000 tip-off messages on their reporting hotline and on WeChat in the two years between November 2020 and December 2022, according to the force’s annual review for last year.

“The encouraging response highlights the community’s support and commitment to upholding national security,” the review read.

Taxi drivers called for counter-terrorism

Hong Kong taxi drivers were urged by the counter-terrorism unit of the police to report any suspicious persons, objects or activities they may encounter while driving around the city. The police called the taxi sector – with over 18,000 taxis and around 46,000 active taxi drivers – a “gatekeeper of the safety of the community.”

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of August 18, 277 people have been arrested for suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 161 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.

Among the 84 persons who have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing, 30 were charged under the national security law.

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Hong Kong authorities stepped up their campaign against overseas activists in July, issuing warrants and offering unprecedented HK$1 million bounties for information leading to the arrest of eight democrats. Family members of several of the eight were taken away for questioning, and others accused of helping the activists were arrested.

Four years after the 2019 protests and unrest, the court on July 28 rejected the government’s application for an injunction to ban Glory to Hong Kong – the unofficial anthem of the 2019 protesters.

And, as the city marked the 26th anniversary of its Handover, top officials celebrated its “fast track to recovery” and the implementation of “patriots ruling Hong Kong.” But they also warned against what they called continuing “soft resistance.”

HK$1 million bounties for overseas activists

National security police issued arrest warrants for eight self-exiled activists on July 3, along with HK$1 million bounties for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of each.

The eight include ex-lawmakers Ted Hui and Dennis Kwok; activists Nathan Law, Anna Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Mung Siu-tat and Finn Lau; and solicitor Kevin Yam. They were last known to be living in the US, UK, Australia and Canada.

The US, the UK, and Australia decried the national security arrest warrants, while the Hong Kong government hit back at what it called “unsubstantiated accusations” against the police operations.

Two days after the arrest warrants were issued, security minister Chris Tang lashed out at Nathan Law as a “modern day traitor” and said the eight would be hunted down for life.

Tang did not reply to questions about whether police would seek assistance from Interpol. The international policing body told HKFP that that no request for a Red Notice or Wanted Persons Diffusion for the eight activists had been received.

Chief Executive John Lee said on July 11 the eight should be treated like “street rats” which people should “avoid at all costs”.

Meanwhile, a Hong Kong lawyers’ group said it was investigating allegations related to one of its members who is among the eight. Melbourne-based solicitor Kevin Yam said he was the member referred to by the Law Society.

Families of wanted activists targeted

Following the arrest warrants, national security police took away for questioning Nathan Law’s mother, father and brother, four family members of Dennis Kwok including his brother, and also the brother, sister-in-law and nephew of Mung Siu-tat.

In addition, pro-Beijing lawmaker Eunice Yung, the daughter-in-law of Elmer Yuen, said she had her home searched and was questioned by national security police for nearly three hours on July 24.

“I cooperated with the police and have told them everything I know. I know the police have made up their minds to seek evidence relating to the eight wanted [activists] and I support the police action,” Yung said on Monday afternoon at the legislature, adding that “this incident has not affected my relationship with [her husband] Derek Yuen so far.”

Along with the New People’s Party legislator, Elmer Yuen’s eldest daughter Mimi and his son Derek were also questioned by police on Monday.

Derek is a former adviser to the New People’s Party. He told Sing Tao Daily last week that he had “a brief meeting” with his father but there were no financial exchanges.

Ex-members of Demosisto arrested

Five former members of the now-defunct Hong Kong pro-democracy party Demosisto were arrested on July 5 and July 6 over the alleged support for overseas activists.

Among them, four men were arrested on July 5, including Ivan Lam, a former chairperson of the party. Another man Chu Yan-ho, a former member of the standing committee of the defunct political group, was arrested  at the airport on July 6.

All of them have been released on bail.

Two other ex-members, Lily Wong and Chan Kok-hin, were arrested weeks later. Media reports citing sources said that the pair were also arrested on suspicion of funding Nathan Law.

Demosisto was co-founded by Law, as well as jailed activist Joshua Wong and former activist Agnes Chow.

Officers were photographed seizing banners and flags relating to an online shopping app called “Mee.” The app was created in 2020 to share discounts and information about “yellow businesses” – restaurants, shops and service providers that support democracy in Hong Kong.

The app Mee vanished from online platform after the arrests.

One week later, a former member of Demosisto, Derek Lam, was questioned by national security police with officers searching his home in Sai Ying Pun. Police told HKFP they took away two men and a woman on the morning of July 13 for questioning.

47 democrats: Ex-journalist testifies

Journalist-turned activist Gwyneth Ho testified in the national security trial relating to 47 pro-democracy figures. Calling communist China a totalitarian regime was an “objective” description without any derogatory meaning, she said on July 25.

The former reporter for now-defunct online news outlet Stand News took the witness stand for seven days in July, as the closely-watched trial – which revolves around an opposition legislative primary election in July 2020 – continued. Day 94 of the hearing was on July 28.

Gwyneth Ho also testified that organising the primary poll had not been a “waste of time,” despite knowing pro-democracy candidates may not win majority control of the legislature.

But she said it would have been realistic for the democrats to have gained a majority in the Legislative Council had Beijing not intervened with methods outside of the Basic Law.

47 democrats: Barrister, ex-district councillors testify

Barrister Lawrence Lau, one of the 47 pro-democracy figures charged with conspiring to commit subversion, testified in early July that he never received WhatsApp messages from the organisers of the primary because he “did not like [the] software.”

He denied having signed an online declaration entitled “Resolute Resistance, Inked Without Regret.” It was signed by 33 defendants in the case, political groups the Civic Party and Neo Democrats on behalf of their members taking part in the primary, and activists Nathan Law and Sunny Cheung, who fled Hong Kong before the democrats were rounded up.

One of the missions of the grassroots pro-democracy group Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood was to uphold Chinese sovereignty, its ex-chairman Sze Tak-loy said in court as he took the witness stand on July 10.

The former district councillor said Hongkongers wanted to achieve the five demands popularised during the protests and unrest in 2019, not for lawmakers to veto the budget in the legislature.

Bid to ban protest anthem

Hong Kong’s High Court on Friday rejected a government bid to ban people from performing or playing the pro-democracy protest song Glory to Hong Kong with an intent to violate the sedition law, national security law, or the national anthem law.

The court said that such a move could have a “chilling” effect on freedom of speech. Judge Anthony Chan said in his ruling he was not “satisfied” that it was “just and convenient” to grant the government’s request for an injunction.

The Department of Justice made the move following several mix-ups at international sporting events, when organisers relying on Google searches mistook the protest song for the official national anthem, China’ s March of the Volunteers.

But the court raised concerns over the “chilling effects” a ban would bring.

“Given that the Injunction is aimed at criminal acts but not lawful activities, I believe that the intrusion to freedom of expression here, especially to innocent third parties, is what is referred to in public law as ‘chilling effects’,” Chan wrote.

The injunction bid had sparked concern among critics about the potential implications for free speech. Hong Kong, unlike the rest of China, does not generally censor the internet despite the sweeping Beijing-drafted national security law passed in June 2020.

China’s seeks to silence Lai’s son at UN

China’s representative intervened at the UN in late June in an effort to stop the son of detained media tycoon Jimmy Lai from testifying.

Sebastien Lai, who was urging for his father’s release, was interrupted during an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

During the hearing, the Chinese representative interrupted, claiming that the statement was unrelated to the meeting’s agenda: “Trials mentioned are underway. We don’t want anyone to use this platform to exaggerate in that regard – we request the president to immediately interrupt this NGO.”

The request was rejected by the president overseeing the meeting.

Patriotic programming impartiality clause

Hong Kong authorities proposed that programmes about national education, national identity, and the “correct understanding” of the national security law be exempt from an impartiality clause requiring “even-handedness.”

In a public consultation document released on July 17 evening, the Communications Authority said it had considered licensees’ concerns that programmes meant to “[engender] a correct sense of national identity” could give rise to complaints that no opposing views had been included.

‘Soft resistance’ warning

Hong Kong must stay vigilant against “soft resistance” and be proactive in safeguarding national security, Chief Executive John Lee said on July 1 as the city marked 26 years since its Handover from Britain to China.

For the first time in three years, attendees gathered at Golden Bauhinia Square without face masks after the city scrapped its last remaining Covid-19 curbs in March. Among those on the front row of the flag-raising ceremony were Lee, former chief executives Carrie Lam, Leung Chun-ying and Donald Tsang, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung and the director of China’s liaison office in Hong Kong Zheng Yanxiong.

Self-censorship among journalists

Almost 70 per cent of journalists surveyed in Hong Kong say they have self-censored in their own writing, a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club found.

The results, released on July 5, surveyed members on working conditions in the city. In response to a question about the extent to which respondents have self-censored their writing “either in content or by avoiding covering certain subjects,” 47 per cent said “slightly,” while 18 per cent said “considerably.”

Gamer’s ‘sensitive’ wording

A professional e-sports player was suspended from competing for three years after allegedly using “sensitive wording“ in his gaming account name, according to the Esports Association of Hong Kong, China (ESAHK)’s statement issued on July 17.

The player involved used “Eazy.D.L.光復” as his account name, in which the two Chinese characters mean “Liberate,” in a competition hosted by the Asian Electronic Sports Federation, according to local media reports.

Article 23 – Hong Kong’s local security law

Hong Kong’s own upcoming security legislation will have provisions to deal with “soft resistance,” Secretary for Security Chris Tang has said.

In an interview with state-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao published on July 3, the security chief said Hong Kong had seen “soft resistance” in recent years, as well as online discussions and publications that could easily radicalise people.

On July 17, Tang told state-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po that the authorities were considering cases of “soft resistance” and “internet loopholes” when drafting Article 23.

There is no conflict between journalistic work and the existing Beijing-imposed national security law, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan said.

The protection of press freedom was stipulated in the sweeping security law and the Basic Law, said Chan in an interview with RTHK on July 2. However, “the freedom of fake news” was not protected, the city’s number two official added.

Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that the government shall enact laws on its own to prohibit acts of treason, secession, sedition and subversion against Beijing. Efforts to pass such a law failed in 2003 following mass protests and it was not tabled again until after the onset of the separate, Beijing-imposed security law in 2020. Pro-democracy advocates fear it could have a negative effect on civil liberties.

National anthem law jailing

A 27-year-old man who replaced China’s national anthem with protest song Glory to Hong Kong in an online video was sentenced to three months in prison on July 20 after being convicted of insulting the national anthem.

The sentencing marked the culmination of the city’s first trial under the National Anthem Ordinance, which came into effect in June 2020, and the first ruling related to the protest song.

New national security commissioner

Beijing on July 18 appointed a commissioner to oversee its national security apparatus in Hong Kong. The State Council announced that Dong Jingwei had been appointed commissioner of national security.

The announcement did not specify Dong’s previous role.

But according to multiple official statements on Chinese government websites, there is a vice minister of national security by the same name.

Foreign sanctions bid

A draft bill that could shut down Hong Kong’s economic and trade offices in the US was approved by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on July 13. The action was strongly condemned by the Hong Kong government and the city’s commerce chief.

In February, Senators Marco Rubio and Jeff Merkley introduced the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act.

This would require the White House to remove the privileges, exemptions, and immunities given to all the Hong Kong trade offices in the US if it decided that “Hong Kong no longer enjoys a high degree of autonomy” from Beijing.

APEC snub

Washington will bar Chief Executive John Lee from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting in the US this November, along with ten other Hong Kong officials, the Washington Post reported on Friday citing sources. Lee is still under US sanctions.

In response, the Hong Kong government said APEC had “standing rules and conventions for hosting meetings” – that leaders of its member economies were invited, and that the host was responsible for issuing invitations to all leaders and facilitating their attendance.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of July 21, 265 people had been arrested over suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted on June 30, 2020, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among those, 161 people and five companies have been charged.

According to the Bureau, 80 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing, among them 30 were convicted or are awaiting sentencing under the Beijing-imposed law. It did not specify the offences committed by the remaining 42 defendants.

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Hong Kong marked the third anniversary of the enactment of its national security law last month. While the government said that the Beijing-imposed legislation, enacted in June 2020, would only impact a minority of people, dozens of opposition figures and residents have been arrested for alleged national security offences.

In the second of a two-part series, HKFP explores the legal precedents set by cases under the sweeping security legislation, which criminalises subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces, and terrorist activities. Click here for part one.

In 2021, the city saw the closure of Apple Daily, a pro-democracy tabloid that had been one of Beijing’s fiercest critics, after its founder Jimmy Lai and several of its journalists became the first group of media workers charged under the security law.

Lai, who has been held in custody since December 2020, faces three charges: two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the security law, and one offence under the sedition law relating to allegedly seditious publications. He faces life in prison if found guilty.

While Lai’s trial has yet to get underway, his case has already set a number of legal precedents regarding the security legislation’s impact on common law traditions.

Journalistic materials

On August 10, 2020, over 100 police officers raided the Apple Daily headquarters in Tseung Kwan O, as well as Lai’s home.

During the raids, police took away two of Lai’s phones, which the media tycoon said contained journalistic materials. Between April and June 2022, Lai identified thousands of journalistic materials on both devices, with police disputing 8,179 of his claims. 

Unless otherwise specified, search warrants do not normally give police the power to inspect journalistic materials, according to Section 83 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (IGCO), which states:

“A provision in any Ordinance which confers on, or authorizes the issue of a warrant conferring on, any person the power to enter any premises and to search the premises or any person found on the premises or to seize any material (whether of a general or particular kind and whether or not the word “material” is used in that provision) shall not, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary, be construed as conferring, or authorizing the issue of a warrant conferring, a power to enter premises where such entry is for the purpose of searching for or seizing material which is known or suspected to be journalistic material.”

The first search warrant issued in 2020 did not give police the power to look into Lai’s journalistic materials.

Principal Magistrate Peter Law, one of the city’s handpicked national security magistrates, granted police a special search warrant under implementation rules of the security law on July 8, 2022. 

Under Section 2 of Schedule 1 of the implementation rules, the police can apply to a magistrate for warrants to investigate suspected national security offences. 

The warrant grants the police powers to “enter (and by the use of reasonable force if necessary) and search the place; inspect, examine, search, seize, remove and detain anything in the place that the officer reasonably believes to be specified evidence; and detain any person found in the place until the place has been searched.”

The authorisation of the national security search warrant sparked debate over whether it empowered the police to seize and inspect journalistic materials. 

Between August and November last year, Lai filed three attempts to block the police from accessing journalistic materials on his phone using the national security search warrant. 

His team contested the interpretation of relevant section of the implementation rules, and said the phrase “specified evidence” should not be understood to include journalistic materials. 

High Court Judge Wilson Chan, in his decision denying Lai’s attempt to launch a legal bid against the warrant on August 30 last year, ruled that “press freedom simply does not equate any blanket prohibition against the seizure, production or disclosure of [journalistic materials].”

He also ruled that the security law and its implementation rules operated separately to the IGCO. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), the decision-making body of China’s top legislature, “self-evidently intended to confer on the Police additional powers in handling cases concerning offences under the [national security law],” Chan ruled.  

Chan’s decision was upheld at the Court of Appeal last October, when a panel of three judges – Jeremy Poon, Susan Kwan, and Carlye Chu – ruled that “despite its importance to the freedom of the press, the protection afforded to journalistic material is not absolute.”

Excluding journalistic materials from the definition of “specified evidence” would “unduly limit the scope and hence reduce the effectiveness of police investigation,” the three judges ruled.

The Court of Appeal also held that such an understanding of the implementation rule would not “diminish the protection afforded to the freedom of the press by the local laws or violate the principle of legality.”  

“The same protection safeguards based on public interest for journalistic material under the common law equally apply to a warrant under Schedule 1 [of the implementation rules],” the judgement read. 

The magistrate “will perform the same judicial gatekeeping role” when exercising his discretion to ensure that “the search and seizure of journalistic material is justified in the public interest,” the three judges ruled. 

Following the ruling last October, the Court of Appeal in June rejected Lai’s attempt to take his case to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA). 

The June application, filed by Senior Counsel Philip Dykes, asked the court to certify two questions: whether search and seizure provisions under the security law implementation rules were subject to Part 12 of the IGCO that relates to the search and seizure of journalistic materials; and, if the implementation rules were not subject to Part 12 of the IGCO, what steps a magistrate must take “to ensure that the seizure of journalistic material is justified.”

The application was rejected by Poon, Kwan, and Chu, who ruled that the points raised were “radically new.”

The appeal court also decided that Lai’s arguments had become “academic,” as the police already had access to the journalistic materials stored in his phones. 

Overseas lawyers

There is a tradition of hiring foreign lawyers to take part in criminal cases in Hong Kong. However, Lai was the first person charged under the national security law to attempt to do so.

Barristers not qualified to practise in Hong Kong can apply to be admitted in the city’s court on an ad-hoc basis on the basis they have “substantial experience in advocacy in a court,” according to the Legal Practitioners Ordinance. 

The case against the media tycoon was moved to the Court of First Instance, where the maximum sentence is life in prison, last May. In October, High Court judge Poon ruled that Lai could hire British barrister, King’s Counsel Timothy Owen, to represent him in his national security trial, despite objections from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Bar Association, which regulates the city’s barristers.

Among the reasons given for opposing Owen’s admission, the DoJ and the Bar Association said that Lai’s case was not of “unusual difficulty or complexity” to warrant the engagement of an overseas counsel.

Poon, however, said the case would include a dispute on the construction of the sweeping security law and was “neither simple nor straightforward.”

The High Court judge also said that the king’s counsel’s “undisputed expertise and experience” in criminal and human rights law “will undoubtedly add a significant dimension to the case.”

Poon’s ruling faced three subsequent appeal attempts from the government, with the justice department only raising national security concerns over Owen’s admission after an appeal attempt at the Court of Appeal failed.

In its November application for leave to appeal to the top court, the administration – represented by former justice minister Rimsky Yuen – claimed there was no way to ensure foreign counsels would keep state secrets or other confidential information after leaving Hong Kong.

The same argument was presented to the Appeal Committee of the CFA after the government’s application to the appeal court failed. 

The top court rejected the justice department’s final attempt, saying appellants could not raise points that were not discussed in previous trials or appeals. 

Less than three hours after the top court’s decision in late November, Chief Executive John Lee announced that he would invite Beijing to intervene on the matter. 

Following Lee’s invitation, the NPCSC passed an interpretation of the security law on December 30, confirming the chief executive and Hong Kong’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security had the power to decide on the matter.

According to the NPCSC decision, Hong Kong courts must request certification from the chief executive to decide whether to allow foreign counsels to participate in national security cases, with the national security committee stepping in if courts failed to obtain chief executive certification. 

In February, Lai’s team asked the court to declare that the NPCSC decision would not impact Owen’s admission. Two months later, his lawyers launched a legal bid against the national security committee and the director of immigration after it was revealed that the national security committee had decided in a private meeting in January that Owen’s participation in the case would harm national security interests. 

The committee also advised the director of immigration to reject any future visa applications from Owen for the case.

Representing Lai, Senior Counsel Robert Pang argued that the national security committee had acted beyond its powers, and that the court should step in. The government’s efforts to block Owen’s admission amounted to “persecution not prosecution,” Pang said in a separate application to permanently halt the trial. 

The Court of First Instance in May rejected the media tycoon’s legal bid, ruling that the court did not have jurisdiction over the national committee’s work. Judge Poon also said that although the NPCSC decision passed after Owen’s admission, it still applied to Lai’s case. 

The media tycoon has since filed an appeal against that decision.

Additionally, the government has added hurdles to the process of admitting overseas lawyers to work in national security cases. 

In May, the Legislative Council amended the Legal Practitioners Ordinance, giving the city’s leader further power to decide on the matter.

Foreign counsels wishing to participate in national security cases must now apply to the chief executive for permission to apply. If the chief executive grants the lawyer’s application, the courts will then have to request certification from the chief executive before making a ruling on the admission application. 

The government said that the new requirement was not a blanket ban on overseas counsel.

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In the three years since Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong, the city has experienced untold changes. Not least to long-held legal precedents, with the city’s common law traditions also impacted by the legislation – which criminalised secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism when it came into force at 11pm on June 30, 2020.

In the first of a two-part series, HKFP explores the precedents set – and upset – by the security law.

Stringent bail threshold

Prior to the passage of the national security law, the court could refuse bail if it thought an accused person would fail to surrender to custody, commit an offence while on bail or interfere with a witness, or pervert or obstruct the course of justice. 

Judges and magistrates would take into account factors such as the nature and seriousness of the offence, and the behaviour and demeanour of the defendant, as well as their occupation and home environment. Their physical and mental condition, criminal record and the nature and weight of the evidence relating to the alleged offence would also be considered.

Under the Beijing-imposed security legislation, however, defendants are subject to a more stringent requirement for bail applications, a new standard that stemmed from a decision by the city’s top court in February 2021 over the bail status of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai who was charged with foreign collusion. 

The founder of the defunct newspaper Apple Daily was remanded in custody on fraud charges on December 3, 2020. Subsequently, he was charged under the national security law on December 12, 2020, when Chief Magistrate Victor So rejected his application for bail on the grounds that he believed the media tycoon would fail to surrender to custody or may commit an offence while on bail. 

Less than two weeks later, on December 23, Lai became the first person charged under the security law to receive bail. High Court judge Alex Lee granted him bail in accordance with Section 9J of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, which empowers the higher court to confirm, revoke or amend a bail-related decision made by a district judge or a magistrate. 

In exchange for bail, Lai was barred from meeting any foreign officials, giving media interviews, publishing articles or posting to social media. He was ordered to pay a HK$5 million cash bail for the foreign collusion case, and a HK$5 million cash bail for a separate fraud case. 

The Department of Justice (DoJ) later challenged Lee’s decision to grant Lai bail at the Court of Final Appeal (CFA), and Lai was taken back into custody on December 31. The prosecutors urged the city’s top court to rule on the correct interpretation of Article 42 (2) of the national security law, which states: “No bail shall be granted to a criminal suspect or defendant unless the judge has sufficient grounds for believing that the criminal suspect or defendant will not continue to commit acts endangering national security.” 

In a written judgement handed down on February 9, 2021, the top court said the meaning and effect of the provision should be examined in light of the context and purpose of the national security law. The court would have to take into account the constitutional basis upon which the legislation is applied in the city, it said. 

A five-judge panel, led by Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, ruled at the time that a two-stage evaluation must be introduced in cases involving alleged national security offences.

Firstly, judges must decide whether there was sufficient grounds to believe the defendant would not continue to commit acts endangering national security.

“NSL 42(2) creates a specific exception to the HKSAR rules and principles governing the grant and refusal of bail, and imports a stringent threshold requirement for bail applications,” the CFA ruled. 

The question of “sufficient grounds” should be regarded as a matter for the court’s evaluation and judgement, rather than requiring either parties to bear the burden of proof, the five-judge CFA panel ruled. 

If the judge was convinced that there were sufficient grounds, they may review any other matters linked to granting or refusal bail, and the usual presumption in favour of bail would apply. 

The CFA also decided that High Court judge Lee’s decision “wrongly translates” the “double negative” in the Article 42 (2) into a “positive requirement.” He “misconstrued” the provision and “misapprehended” the nature and effect of the threshold requirement created, it said. 

“This is not a case where one may arithmetically regard two negatives as producing a positive result. The Court’s approach erroneously re-writes NSL 42(2) and eliminates the more stringent threshold requirement it intentionally imposes as a specific exception to the general principles regarding bail,” the CFA panel ruled. 

Lai has remained in custody since December 31, 2020, and has subsequently been convicted of protest-related offences and fraud charges. He is currently serving five years and nine months in jail, and awaiting the resumption of his adjourned national security trial in late September. 

Legal debates over the application of the stringent threshold requirement for bail emerged again the following December. Sidney Ng, one of five speech therapists charged and denied bail under the sedition law, asked the top court to clarify whether the same bail requirements applied to non-national security cases, such as sedition, which is outlawed by the Crimes Ordinance. 

The CFA dismissed Ng’s bid on December 9, 2021. A three-judge panel ruled that the national security law recognised it provided an “incomplete framework of laws” designed to safeguard national security. It omitted some offences stipulated in the Basic Law, including the controversial Article 23 of the Basic Law – which mandates that Hong Kong shall enact its own security law. 

The court said the Beijing-imposed legislation did not directly address treason, sedition and the prohibition of the specified objectionable activities by or with foreign political entities – acts which will be dealt with under Article 23. 

Citing Lai’s case, the CFA said it was evident that the security law should operate “in tandem” with local laws, and priority shall be given to provisions in the Beijing-enacted legislation in case of inconsistency. 

“Viewed purposively, the intent of the NSL is plainly for national security to be safeguarded by the complementary application of the laws which it creates together with the existing laws of the HKSAR, such as those contained in Part II of the Crimes Ordinance,” the CFA panel wrote in a December 14 judgement. 

The top court also ruled that sedition qualified as an offence endangering national security, and thus the stringent bail threshold would apply. 

Since the top court’s decision, most people charged under the sedition law have been denied bail. In the few instances bail was granted, strict conditions were applied, including deleting all social media applications, being prohibited from joining chat groups with more than five participants and handing over social media accounts to the police for investigation. 

Minimum sentence

A landmark ruling last November confirmed that Hong Kong judges must not mete out sentences below the minimum stated in the Beijing-imposed national security law for those convicted of offences considered “serious.” But the far-reaching decision is set to be challenged at the city’s top court next month. 

Last November, the Court of Appeal rejected Hong Kong Polytechnic University student Lui Sai-yu’s bid to seek a jail term reduction. Lui was sentenced to five years for inciting secession over selling weapons on Telegram and posting messages which advocated Hong Kong independence.

Then-district judge Amanda Woodcock, who presided over Lui’s case, ruled last April that the offence committed by the university student was of a “serious nature.” Lui pleaded guilty to the charge and was offered a one-third reduction to the starting sentence of five and a half years. 

But Woodcock later raised Lui’s prison term from three years and eight months to five years, after prosecutors said the court was bound by Article 21 of the security law to impose a minimum sentence of five years.

Lui became the first national security convict to challenge the fixed-term sentencing provision of the security law. His appeal centred around whether Article 21 of the legislation intended to set five years as a mandatory minimum penalty for serious offences, or a range of starting points between 10 years and five years.

The challenge also gave rise to questions over whether a list of mitigating circumstances listed in Article 33 (1) of the national security law were the only factors that a court may use in adjusting the penalty for a serious offence under Article 21.

The judges went on to say that imprisonment was listed as the only punishment option for a serious offence under Article 21, which reflected how the drafter of the law deemed the gravity of the offences.

“Viewed purposively, the minimum of five years is mandatory,” the judges said.

Mandatory sentences are not common in common law jurisdictions except for murder. Anyone convicted of murder in Hong Kong faces life imprisonment, but the court can exercise discretion and hand out a shorter prison term if the convict was below 18 years old at the time of the offence. 

The city’s top court will hear Lui’s challenge against the decision of the appeal court on August 9. 

Non-jury trials

Hong Kong has long regarded trial by jury as one of the most important features of its legal system. According to tradition, trials involving murder, rape, armed robbery and other serious criminal offences are presided over by a judge of the Court of First Instance, accompanied by a jury of seven to nine people. 

A jury may also be called to take part in some civil proceedings, as well as some death inquests.

However, Article 46 of the national security law gave the city’s justice minister power to order a non-jury trial in cases handled in the Court of First Instance of the High Court. A certificate may be issued to have a case tried by a panel of three designated judges instead, for reasons including the protection of state secrets, involvement of foreign factors in the case, and to protect the safety of jurors and their family members. 

The first national security trial in Hong Kong saw defendant Tong Ying-kit’s lawyers making an attempt to challenge the DoJ’s decision to conduct a non-jury trial. Tong was charged with inciting secession and engaging in terrorist activities, after he drove a motorcycle with a flag reading “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” into three police officers during a demonstration in Wan Chai on July 1, 2020, the day after the law was enacted.

Tong’s legal team applied for a judicial review of the non-jury trial decision, but it was rejected. They managed to file an appeal to challenge the constitutionality of Article 46 of the security law in June 2021, but the Court of Appeal ruled that the legislation had a “special constitutional status focusing on preventing and suppressing acts endangering national security.”

“Granted jury trial is the conventional mode of trial in the Court of First Instance, it should not be assumed that it is the only means of achieving fairness in the criminal process,” the appeal court held. 

Tong was eventually convicted by three judges and sentenced to nine years behind bars in July 2021.

To date, no national security trial has been heard by a jury. The high-profile national security trials involving media mogul Lai, an incitement to subversion case against Tiananmen vigil organiser Chow Hang-tung, and one centred on 47 pro-democracy former politicians and activists who stand accused of conspiring to commit subversion have all been ordered to proceed without juries. 

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Hong Kong saw a series of arrests and detentions in June, the month marking the third anniversary of the national security law, including the detention of 23 people in or around Victoria Park on June 4 – the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown.

Two people – a 23-year-old student and a 63-year-old businessman – were charged with posting “seditious messages” on social media platforms. And Glory to Hong Kong, the unofficial anthem of the 2019 protests, was back in the news when the government sought a legal injunction against it.

Officials stressed the need to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law, which requires the city to pass its own national security law to supplement the Beijing-imposed legislation in force since June 30, 2020.

A protest anthem in court

The government sought a legal injunction to ban unlawful acts relating to Glory to Hong Kong, the lyrics of which contain a slogan that has been deemed a call for secession.

A day after the move, the song dominated all positions in Apple’s Hong Kong iTunes Top 10.

On June 12, the Court of First Instance adjourned the injunction hearing until July 21.

Two days after the hearing, the song disappeared from the Apple and Spotify streaming sites. Spotify told HKFP that the song was removed by distributors, while a person identified only as Thomas – from distributor Dgx Music – told HKFP he was unable to explicitly explain the song’s disappearance from platforms.

The song was uploaded again to streaming platforms on June 19.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association is seeking an exemption for media reporting if the injunction is granted.

Detention on June 4

Police took away 11 men and 12 women in Causeway Bay and outside Victoria Park on June 4, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing.

The police told HKFP they removed “those persons who were likely to cause a breach of the peace, from the scenes to police stations for enquiry.” Senior Counsel Philip Dykes told HKFP that “a person can only be compelled to leave a public area and required to go to a police station if they are arrested for good cause.”

On the day of the anniversary, Causeway Bay and Victoria Park – where a candlelight vigil was held for 30 years until 2020 – saw a heavy police presence, with up to 6,000 officers reportedly deployed. 

National security judge reprimanded

A Hong Kong national security judge received a “serious reprimand” after a trademark dispute case he had handled was ordered for retrial due to judicial copying. The Court of Appeal ruled that High Court Judge Wilson Chan had copied the majority of the plaintiff’s written submission in his own judgement.

The case showed that the legal system could correct its mistakes, according to Secretary for Justice Paul Lam.

“Actually our legal system has a high self-correcting capability,” said the justice minister. “What happened was that the trial judge made a mistake. Whatever the mistake was, we have a very good appeal mechanism, and it was a ground for appeal accepted by the Court of Appeal.”

Jimmy Lai’s latest appeal bid blocked

The Court of Appeal blocked a bid by pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to challenge a national security search warrant of his phones, which he said contained protected journalistic materials.

Previous attempts by Lai to block the warrant were rejected at the High Court in August and October last year.

Lai, 75, has been held in custody since December 2020. He is accused of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and one count of collusion with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed national security law, and has also been charged under the colonial-era sedition law over allegedly seditious publications.

He is currently serving a five-year-and-nine-month prison term for fraud related to the lease of Apple Daily’s headquarters.

Stand News Trial

The court heard closing arguments in the sedition trial against online media outlet Stand News and two of its former editors on June 26.

The prosecution said it did not matter whether the two former chief editors had a seditious intent. Instead the focus should be on whether the materials were seditious, and whether the editors knew they were seditious.

Judge Kwok Wai-kin, who is handling the case, had previously ruled that seditious intent was an essential element of the offence in the case against five Hong Kong speech therapists found guilty of publishing a series of “seditious” children’s books.

The Stand News trial, which began last October and was originally set to last for 20 days, came to an end on 28 June after 56 days in court, with the verdict set to be handed down in October.

Patriotic education

Hong Kong will “comply” with mainland China’s “patriotic education law,” Chief Executive John Lee said after a bill was tabled in China’s legislature.

The proposed law includes requirements for different groups, including Hong Kong and Macau residents, to strengthen their recognition of traditional culture, and to consciously maintain the unity of the country.

Regardless of whether the proposed law is applicable to Hong Kong, the government would “comply” with its requirements, Lee added.

The Education Bureau’s updated guidelines on schools’ procurement procedures require government-subsidised schools to include clauses relating to safeguarding national security in contracts and quotations.

Black image as new censorship

Filmmakers whose movies were shown at a local festival replaced some scenes with “black images and muted sound,” according to organisers, after government censors demanded certain scenes be cut.

Three films shown at the Fresh Wave International Film Festival faced orders from the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) to delete several sections, according to a statement on June 9.

The film censorship law, however, does not apply to government screenings. OFNAA offered the clarification after local media reported that a police publicity film was screened at police headquarters despite not having undergone the official vetting process.

A screening of Guarding Our City with Faith: the Prequel, a police promotional film, was held at police headquarters in Wan Chai.

OFNAA added that the film screening at the police headquarters was exempt from the ordinance, but screenings of the same movie organised by non-governmental organisations would still have to seek approval.

Sedition arrests

A Hong Kong university student arrested over allegedly “seditious” online posts was barred from possessing electronic devices with social media apps and joining chat groups with more than five people, as part of a list of strict bail conditions. The court heard that most of the offending posts were published while overseas.

Yuen Ching-ting, 23, appeared at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on June 16 to face a charge under the colonial-era sedition law.

Yuen, a student at a university in Japan, was arrested by national security police in March. Local media said she had returned to the city to change her Hong Kong identity card, and was apprehended a day before she was scheduled to fly to Japan.

Separately, on June 26, national security police arrested a 63-year-old man over alleged “seditious messages,” including calls for the city’s independence, on social media.

The 63-year-old’s case was mentioned at court on June 28. According to local media reports, the man, named Danny Kong, is a businessman and founder of a Chinese martial arts school in Tsuen Wan.

The defendant’s application for bail was rejected by the court, which will hear his case again on July 26.

Hong Kong’s own security law

Hong Kong leader John Lee said that Article 23 – the city’s own security law – would “definitely” be enacted this year or next, at the latest.

The chief executive told Hong Kong China News Agency in an interview on June 21 that he was an “impatient” person but also needed to be cautious: “With this legislation, I hope the entire process will consist of careful and thorough considerations, resulting in a successful law,” he said.

Previously, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said that the Hong Kong government should expedite the legislation of the city’s own security law, adding that “some achievement should be made within this year, otherwise no later than next year.”

Taiwan warning

Taiwan residents were warned against “accidentally stepping into a minefield” and risking arrest under Hong Kong’s national security law while travelling to the city.

The island’s Mainland Affairs Council recently updated a section on its website informing people of behaviour that might be considered an offence.

Pirate radio to stop broadcasting

Citizens’ Radio, a pro-democracy pirate radio station, ceased operation on June 30 after its founder said the station’s bank account had been frozen.

Founded in 2005 by ex-legislator “the Bull” Tsang Kin-shing, the station had previously been raided by the government on suspicion of using an illegal radio transmitter for FM audio broadcasting.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of June 23, 259 people had been arrested for suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 160 people and five companies had been charged under the national security law or the sedition law or with other crimes.

Among the 80 persons who have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing, 30 were charged under the national security law.

Three years of the national security law

From libraries to the legislature, and campuses to the courts – swathes of the city’s public and private spheres have faced major upheaval in light of the security law. On the third anniversary its enactment, HKFP examined the many ways the city had changed.

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Whilst local authorities promised the security law would only affect a small minority of people, few corners of the city’s social and political landscape have remained untouched by the multi-billion dollar clampdown. From libraries to the legislature, from campuses to the courts – swathes of the city’s public and private spheres have faced a major upheaval in what the government describes as an effort to ensure peace and prosperity after the 2019 protests and unrest.

In two parts, HKFP explores the many ways that the Beijing-drafted legislation – which criminalised secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism – has reshaped the city since it took effect at 11pm on June 30, 2020.

Vanishing public votes amid electoral overhauls

Soon after the national security law took effect, Hong Kong announced that the 2020 Legislative Council (LegCo) election – originally scheduled for September – would be delayed “to protect public safety and public health” amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 

But before the postponed poll was held, Beijing took what it called “necessary steps to improve the electoral system” and remove “loopholes and deficiencies” in the existing system which had been revealed by “rioting and turbulence… in the Hong Kong society.” 

In March 2021, China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, approved an overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure that the city was governed by “patriots.”

See also: How Beijing cracked down on Hong Kong’s elections

Under the “reforms,” the number of directly elected seats to the legislature was slashed from 35 to 20, while the total number of seats rose from 70 to 90. A vetting mechanism – which saw candidates subject to checks by the police National Security Department, the city’s national security committee and a separate reviewing committee – was also introduced to ensure that only “patriots” could be in the running to lead the city.

The existing Election Committee – an already powerful panel tasked with selecting the city’s leader – was expanded and further empowered to choose 40 of the legislature’s 90 seats, and its composition was altered so it became stacked with government appointees and organisations with mainland Chinese ties.   

The changes effectively excluded what remained of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp – those who had not been detained under the security law – from the ballot when the city headed to the polls on December 19, 2021. Only one self-styled non-establishment candidate secured a seat and voter turnout was just 30.2 per cent, the lowest in the history of LegCo elections. 

The overhaul also encompassed the chief executive selection process, raising the threshold for nomination to 188 votes from Election Committee members, and requiring at least 751 votes to win. To run, candidates must also receive at least 15 votes from each of the committee’s five sectors, including the recently added sector comprising members of “national organisations.”  

In the end, there was only one candidate to become the city’s next leader, with former security minister and chief secretary John Lee selected by 1,416 members of the Election Committee in May 2022. 

Local-level administration was also identified as an area in need of “improvement,” with Lee announcing in May proposed changes to how District Councils were appointed. Although historically dominated by establishment players, the pan-democratic camp swept 17 of 18 local councils in the 2019 elections amid the anti-extradition bill unrest that year. 

Pending legislative approval, the number of democratically elected seats to the local bodies in the next election slated for sometime this year will be reduced from 452 to 88, 179 seats will be appointed by the chief executive, and the remaining 176 will be appointed by elections within three government-appointed committees.

“The black riots and Hong Kong version of a colour revolution in 2019 were a warning for Hong Kong,” Lee claimed when announcing the proposal. Again, the changes were described as necessary to plug “loopholes in the system to prevent the District Councils from again becoming a platform for [advocating] black riots, Hong Kong independence and mutual destruction. We must prevent those who opposed China and stirred up chaos in Hong Kong from hijacking, manipulating, paralysing the District Councils.”

Disappearing democrats

In the immediate aftermath of the security law, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement seemed unperturbed. Pan-democrats held unofficial primaries in July 2020 to identify candidates for the upcoming LegCo election that would, it was hoped, help the camp seize a controlling majority in the legislature in the wake of the District Council triumph.

However, more than 50 were arrested during pre-dawn raids the following January over their involvement in those polls and 47 were charged with conspiring to commit subversion under the security law – for which they could face life in prison. Most have been held behind bars since being denied bail in early March 2021 as the trial against the 16 who pleaded not guilty continues. 

Key figures who led the city’s annual candlelight vigils for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown have been charged with inciting subversion under the security law and remain on remand while awaiting a trial date, while others have been convicted of unauthorised assembly related to the banned 2020 commemoration.

Before mass arrests wiped out active members of the opposition camp, pro-democracy lawmakers had resigned en masse from LegCo in November 2020 after four were ousted from the legislature over their “unpatriotic” stance. Former legislator Claudia Mo – who is among the 47 facing a subversion charge – said at the time it was “the death-knell of Hong Kong’s democracy fight.” 

A number of prominent democrats have been among a wave of Hongkongers opting to emigrate, including former lawmakers Ted Hui, who left while on bail and has been convicted and sentenced in absentia to three-and-a-half years in jail, and Fernando Cheung, who departed after completing a three-week prison term for contempt. 

In May, the pro-democracy Civic Party voted to dissolve itself after it could not find anyone to fill vacant executive committee posts. Chairperson Alan Leong – who in 2007 had become the first democratic candidate to succeed in joining the chief executive selection process – also cited the party’s financial constraints.

Having few avenues left open for fundraising, the League of Social Democrats (LSD), one of the last active remaining pro-democracy parties, told HKFP last year it was becoming harder to survive. In March, LSD chairperson Chan Po-ying was fined for collecting money in public without a permit. Three months later, the group revealed that HSBC had closed the accounts it used for collecting donations, as well as the personal accounts of four members.  

Shrinking civil society

Around 60 civil society groups – including unions, churches, student bodies, and political parties – have disbanded in the wake of the national security law. The trend accelerated in the second half of 2021, when bastions of the decades-long pro-democracy movement disappeared within months.

Many said they were unable to continue given the political climate.

Among the best-known were the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised annual vigils in Victoria Park to remember the hundreds, perhaps thousands, who died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing on June 4, 1989. Members voted to disband in September 2021 after its leaders were arrested and the group’s assets frozen.

Pro-democracy labour and political group the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions also disbanded in September 2021, citing threats against its members. The decision came amid rumours propagated by Chinese-backed media that it would be the next target of a national security probe.

Last September, the government announced that any trade union applying for registration would have to declare that it would not engage in acts that endangered national security. The requirement was introduced just days after five members of the defunct General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists were each sentenced to 19 months in jail for publishing a series of “seditious” children’s books.

The status of civil society in Hong Kong has been the subject of discussion at the United Nations, with Michael Windfuhr, rapporteur for China on the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, asking how the city could ensure the security law would not be used as a “pretext to suppress civil society and severely undermine the… fulfilment of economic, social and cultural rights.”

In response, Cheung Hoi-shan, assistant commissioner of the Labour Department, said Hong Kong’s trade union rights were “strong and intact as ever.”

National security newsroom raids

Hong Kong’s media landscape has changed irrevocably since the imposition of the national security law. Established outlet Apple Daily – a popular tabloid known for reporting on political scandals as well as crime and celebrity news, and later for its pro-democracy stance during the 2019 protests – printed its last edition on June 24, 2021, and ceased operations after its newsroom was raided by police for a second time and its assets were frozen.

The newspaper’s founder Jimmy Lai has been detained since December 2020 and was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison last December for fraud charges linked to a violation of the lease of Apple Daily’s headquarters. He also faces two counts of conspiring to commit foreign collusion under the national security law and one count of sedition, with proceedings adjourned until September.

Six former Apple Daily employees – including its CEO, top editors and publisher – pleaded guilty last November to conspiring to collude with foreign agents, with some expected to testify against Lai.

Independent online media outlet Stand News was also forced to close after hundreds of national security police officers raided its newsroom in December 2021 and several senior staff members were arrested on suspicion of breaching the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance by conspiring to publish seditious publications.

Former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, and the outlet’s parent company have been accused of conspiring to publish seditious publications.

During the trial, which began last October and was expected to last 20 days but only wrapped on June 28, the prosecution presented 17 articles and op-eds as evidence that Stand News published “seditious materials,” among them profiles of self-exiled activists, commentaries by veteran journalists and a news report about activist Chow Hang-tung being awarded a human rights prize.

Another independent outlet, Citizen News, announced its closure in the days after Stand News’ demise, citing “the drastic changes in society and the worsening of the media environment.” A year later, all of its online content was removed as the company wound up.

In what was hailed as a rare victory for press freedom, journalist Bao Choy had her conviction for making false statements linked to a documentary she made on a mob attack in Yuen Long in 2019 overturned by the city’s top court in June. However, in an interview with HKFP she warned that the “damage [to the media industry] has already been done.”

Courting judicial firsts

The promulgation of the national security law has led to a number of firsts for Hong Kong’s judicial system.

In a departure from common law traditions in place since 1845, according to which most criminal trials heard by the Court of First Instance are tried by a jury, the security law states that a jury can be excluded if there is a need to protect state secrets or the safety of jurors and their families, or if “foreign forces” are involved.

Under such circumstances, judges handpicked by the government to handle national security cases will oversee proceedings. To date, no national security trial in Hong Kong has been heard by a jury. Tong Ying-kit, the first person convicted under the security law, was sentenced to nine years in jail after losing a legal challenge against his non-jury trial.

Bail applications in national security cases must also go through a stricter assessment. Judges consider not only the defendant’s risk of absconding or obstructing justice, but also whether there are sufficient grounds for believing they “will not continue to commit acts endangering national security.”

As a result, many defendants have been denied bail pending trial. In the case of the 47 democrats, some were detained for almost two years before proceedings against those who pleaded not guilty began in February. They remain in custody pending the end of the trial and sentencing.

The sedition law has been revived after lying dormant for more than half a century. Although not part of the security law it is increasingly used against supposed threats to national security, with arrests often made by the police National Security Department.

Like national security cases, those involving sedition are handled by handpicked judges, and the stricter standards for granting bail also apply.

Evolution of education system

At kindergartens and primary and secondary schools across the city, national security education has been inserted into the curriculum. The aim is to “deepen students’ understanding of the country’s development and national security, enhance students’ sense of national identity, nurture students as good law-abiding citizens, and create a peaceful and orderly school environment and atmosphere,” according to the Education Bureau.

During National Security Education Day on April 15, the authorities seek to make the topic fun, which this year meant giant board games and a carnival.

According to local media, kindergartens in 2021 received reference books on the security legislation so youngsters can begin their education on the legislation early, an education that continues throughout “key learning stages.” Since the 2022-23 school year, all schools must hold weekly flag-raising ceremonies at which China’s national anthem is sung, with penalties for those who “disrespect” the raising of the flag.

Even university students are not exempt, with undergraduates required to pass an introductory course on the Beijing-imposed law to graduate. Students at the University of Hong Kong told HKFP that while they did not feel like they were being brainwashed by the course, it failed to clarify where the “red lines” were drawn.

Censorship and creative crackdown

Hong Kong’s public library system made headlines at home and around the world in May, when local media reported that hundreds of books had been quietly removed from their collections since the onset of the security law.

Responding to lawmakers’ questions on the topic, Lee said the city would not recommend books with “bad ideologies,” after earlier saying that the titles removed from libraries were still available in stores.

It was not the first time public libraries had garnered unwanted attention, with HKFP reporting in November 2021 that titles about the Tiananmen crackdown had been removed. However, the scope of disappearances has since widened. While most listed in recent local media reports were political titles, some were more innocuous, including romantic essays and travel writing penned by pro-democracy figures.

See also: ‘Not recommended reading’ – the books Hong Kong is purging from public libraries

Also among those whose work was banished was political cartoonist Wong Kei-kwan, better known as Zunzi. After publishing his satirical takes on current affairs in Ming Pao for 40 years, the newspaper axed his cartoon strip in May following criticism from government officials.

Zunzi was one of the last remaining political cartoonists in the city. Many left since the security law was implemented, citing shrinking freedom of expression.

Filmmakers, too, have become subject to more stringent censorship, with films needing approval from the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) to be screened in the city.

Since amendments to the city’s Film Censorship Ordinance were passed in October 2021, allowing the government to ban films deemed contrary to national security, several independent directors have been asked to remove scenes, while showings have been cancelled after movies failed to obtain approval from OFNAA.

Four filmmakers spoke to HKFP last year about navigating the new era of censorship, and why some of them had opted to enjoy freedom of expression overseas rather than operate within unclear red lines in the city.

After several mix-ups at international sporting events, in which the 2019 protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong was played instead of China’s national anthem March of the Volunteers, Hong Kong authorities appealed to tech giant Google to help fix search results for “Hong Kong national anthem.”

And the government has since sought a legal injunction to ban unlawful acts relating to the protest song, the lyrics of which contain the phrase “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” In July 2021, the courts ruled the slogan to be secessionist during the city’s first national security trial.

The injunction hearing was adjourned until July 21 to give objectors time to prepare their challenges, with the Hong Kong Journalists Association announcing that it intended to seek an exemption for media reporting.

Click here for Part 2

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In May, the city witnessed a series of disappearances: the Civic Party, Hong Kong’s second-largest pro-democracy party, voted to dissolve; a prominent political cartoonist had his comic strip suspended after 40 years; hundreds of books were purged from public libraries; and a monument commemorating Tiananmen Crackdown was seized by Hong Kong’s national security police. Changes were also proposed to the composition and election of local-level advisory bodies, the District Council, in an attempt to “improve district administration”.

As the 34th anniversary of Tiananmen crackdown loomed, top officials failed to give clear answers to questions over the legality of mourning those who died when the People’s Liberation Army dispersed protesters in Beijing on June 4, 1989. Landmark national security cases continued to be heard at the city’s courts, with Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai losing a legal battle over hiring a foreign counsel for his defence team, and more witnesses testifying during the trial involving 47 democrats.

No clear answers on Tiananmen commemoration

Hong Kong leader John Lee failed to give a yes-no answer over the legality of mourning the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown ahead of its anniversary on Sunday, saying only that residents must obey the law and consider the consequences of their actions.

“Everybody should act in accordance with the law and think of what they do, so as to be ready to face the consequences,” Lee said.

Hong Kong’s security chief also evaded questions over whether publicly mourning victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown is a violation of the Beijing-imposed national security law.

District Council overhaul

The Hong Kong government officially tabled a bill for overhauling the District Council.

According to the bill, the number of District Council seats democratically chosen by the public are to be slashed to around 20 per cent. Only 88 seats in the polls scheduled for November will be directly elected by the public – down from 452 in the last poll. The number of overall seats will fall from 479 to 470.

Aside from the 88 seats voted on by the public, 179 will be appointed by the chief executive – a system that was previously abolished in 2016. The 27 ex-officio seats will remain.

Introducing the bill to the Legislative Council, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang claimed that at the peak of the 2019 extradition bill protests, “anti-China and Hong Kong elements” took advantage of “loopholes” in the District Council election system to “swindle” votes by politicising various issues and provoking hatred towards the government.

Decades-old satirical comic strip axed

Prominent political cartoonist Wong Kei-kwan, better known as Zunzi, had his comic strip suspended after a satirical post was criticised by government bodies.

Zunzi had published his satirical takes on current affairs and public policies in the city since 1983 in Ming Pao. The newspaper printed his final comic strip on May 13.

The famed cartoonist is no stranger to criticism from the government, having drawn the ire of at least five government departments, including the police and the powerful Security Bureau.

Between June 2019 and January 2020, as Hong Kong was gripped by months-long pro-democracy protests and unrest, the city’s political cartoons and artwork scene flourished.

However, since Beijing enacted the national security law in Hong Kong in June 2020, political comics have become a rarer sight in the city. Many have left, citing shrinking freedom of expression.

‘Unrecommended books’ purged

Since 2020, around 40 per cent of books and recordings about political topics or figures were removed from public libraries, Ming Pao reported. Of 468 political books and recordings identified by Ming Pao, at least 195 had been removed – 96 of them in the past year, the newspaper reported.

Books by Zunzi were also among listings removed from public libraries.

Titles removed from the shelves of Hong Kong public libraries could still be bought from book stores, Chief Executive John Lee said following public libraries, adding that libraries must ensure that books on their shelves did not breach any of the city’s laws.

The city’s leader also said that the Hong Kong government has a duty to identify books with “bad ideologies.”

“Books we are lending to the public are those recommended by the government. We would not recommend books that are illegal, have copyright issues or those with bad ideologies,” Lee said.

Tiananmen crackdown statue ‘seized’

The Pillar of Shame – a monument commemorating those who died in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown – was seized by Hong Kong’s national security police investigating an “incitement to subversion” case on May 5.

The seize of the sculpture was conducted with a court warrant, a police spokesperson later said in a statement. “Like any other case, to collect evidence following progress of investigation to take forward the relevant case is legal, reasonable and rational,” the statement read.

The statue’s creator, Danish artist Jens Galschiøt, told HKFP that he thought it was “completely crazy” that the sculpture was allegedly being used as evidence against pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

The Security Bureau hit back at calls for the return of a monument.

47 democrats trial continues

The high-profile trial concerning 47 pro-democracy figures marked its 60th day on May 31. During the month, the court heard from the third and forth accomplice witness who testified against their fellow democrats, an anonymous witness was grilled over “secretly recorded” footage, the prosecution called witnesses including a returning officer and a national security police officer, and arguments relating to the co-conspirators rule.

Former Sai Kung District Council chairperson Ben Chung became the third accomplice witness, while the fourth was granted anonymity to testify over secretly recorded footage.

That witness denied that recording a meeting of Hong Kong pro-democracy figures without their permission was not an intrusion of privacy.

Amy Yeung, a returning officer during the 2020 Legislative Council elections, said that she was not convinced that defendant Gwyneth Ho would uphold the city’s mini-constitution.

The court also discussed the use of the co-conspirator’s rule, which allows for statements made by an alleged co-conspirator to be admitted as evidence against other members of the co-conspiracy.

Jimmy Lai will face 83-day trial

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is expected to face an 83-day national security trial, a court heard.

Lai, 75, who has been remanded in custody since December 2020, originally faced a total of four charges under the Beijing-imposed national security law and the colonial-era sedition law. He stands accused of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of collusion with foreign forces. He has also been charged under the sedition law over allegedly seditious publications.

His bid to halt the national security trial against him was rejected in May by the city’s Court of First Instance.

Overseas lawyers restricted

Hong Kong’s legislature unanimously passed a bill essentially allowing the chief executive to decide whether overseas counsels can take part in the city’s national security cases.

The administration raised the proposal after four consecutive failed attempt to bar Jimmy Lai from hiring a foreign barrister to represent him in a national security trial.

The decision means that any overseas counsel not qualified to practice in Hong Kong will have to go through two hurdles before they can participate in national security cases in the city.

National security case against 23-year-old

A national security case against a 23-year-old Hong Kong student, Cheung Ho-yeung, was moved to the city’s High Court, where the maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit terrorist activities is life imprisonment..

Cheung has been charged over allegedly conspiring with others “with a view to coercing” the central and Hong Kong governments, or “intimidating the public in order to pursue [a] political agenda, to organise, plan, commit, participate in or threaten to commit terrorist activities” between April 1 and July 5, 2021.

Teen’s guilty plea for terrorism

A Hong Kong teenager pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit terrorist activities under the national security law. Five others, all of whom were secondary school students at the time of their prosecution, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to cause explosions.

According to the case details, the group planned to target court buildings with explosives. One of them was a member of self-proclaimed revolutionary group Returning Valiant.

Civic Party dissolved

Hong Kong pro-democracy political party Civic Party voted to dissolve. The decision came after the party’s executive committee posts were left vacant as no members filed nominations to take up positions.

Members of the Civic Party voted to wind up the company, saying that a liquidator had already been appointed. Civic Party Chairperson Alan Leong thanked “all liked-minded people” who joined the party’s “long walk to democracy for different parts of the journey” in a statement.

Legislation of Hong Kong’s own security law

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said he was very likely to discuss the legislation of Hong Kong’s own security law with the Chinese authorities. He set off for his first visit to Beijing since taking office on May 30.

Lam earlier questioned people’s concern about the legislation. “People who are anxious [about it]… what are they afraid of? What did they hear that made them scared?” he said on RTHK.

Lam said Hong Kong would balance the protection of national security with upholding human rights when legislating the city’s own security law.

Hong Kong 140th on Press Freedom Index

Hong Kong continued to languish near the bottom of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom ranking according to the latest index released on World Press Freedom Day.

The city ranked 140th among the 180 regions in the international media watchdog’s latest ranking, trailing behind Colombia and Cameroon. China ranked 179th, just above North Korea.

Hong Kong’s press freedom ranking rose eight places from last year’s 148, but the free expression NGO said the situation had not improved and the move was mostly due to the movement of other territories.

Chinese diplomats visited Korean NGO

Three officials from the Chinese embassy in South Korea visited the office of a Korean organisation after it awarded a rights prize to a detained Hong Kong Tiananmen crackdown vigil activist. The May 18 Foundation confirmed the encounter with HKFP, saying officials had visited and expressed their opinions during a 40-minute meeting.

The NGO awarded Chow Hang-tung – the ex-vice-chairperson of the defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China as this year’s winner of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights.

Google’s national security takedown requests surged

The Hong Kong government requested that Google remove 183 items between July and December 2022 – mostly from YouTube – with the US tech giant denying almost half of the requests.

In total during 2022, the government requested that Google remove 330 items, among which 57 were related to national security. It represented the highest year-on-year increase compared to other categories which related to issues such as impersonation, privacy and security.

In 2021, Hong Kong requested that Google remove 116 items, with just six related to national security.

US called for sanctions on 29 Hong Kong judges 

Hong Kong authorities condemned US lawmakers’ calls for sanctions on 29 Hong Kong judges in order to “counter the erosion of democratic freedoms.” Such appeals amounted to making a “shameless, sinister and malicious” attempt to interfere with the city’s judicial process, it said.

A report by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China titled “One City, Two Legal Systems: Hong Kong Judges’ Role in Rights Violations under the National Security Law,” was published May 11.

Hong Kong slammed it as making “slandering remarks and despicable threats” against the city’s judges.

US-sanctioned officers promoted

Three officers sanctioned by the US were promoted within the Hong Kong police’s National Security Department, with two becoming leading figures. Chief Executive John Lee said the promoted officers were “fearless” in the face of Washington’s “bullying act”.

The police announced that the chief executive had appointed Andrew Kan as the head of its National Security Department following his predecessor Edwina Lau’s retirement.

Meanwhile, Kan’s former post as director of national security would be taken up by Kelvin Kong, after the latter was promoted by police chief Raymond Siu to become a senior assistant commissioner of police. Lee also appointed Steve Li, formerly a superintendent, to become the chief superintendent of police at the National Security Department.

‘A vaguely defined criminal statute’

A Beijing office criticised a US Senate committee in early May, calling them “political fabricators” after they passed a resolution to condemn “Beijing’s destruction of Hong Kong’s democracy and rule of law.”

The newly passed resolution by the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations called the Beijing-implemented national security law “a vaguely defined criminal statute that includes overly broad charges and extraterritorial reach to punish people for exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms.”

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of May 25, 251 persons had been arrested over suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted on June 30, 2020, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 154 persons and five companies had been charged.

According to the Bureau, 79 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing. Among them, 29 were convicted or are awaiting sentencing under the national security law. It did not specify the offences committed by the remaining 42 defendants.

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In April, a planned Labour Day march was cancelled after one of its organisers was said to have gone missing for four hours. Several government-registered media outlets were barred from covering a National Security Education Day event attended by Xia Baolong, Beijing’s point man for Hong Kong affairs. The Chinese official told Hongkongers that protesting was “not the only way” for expressing views. He also warned against a “resurgence of street violence,” saying local authorities must remain vigilant about national security threats. In response, the city’s leader vowed to crack down on “hostile forces,” adding Hong Kong would always remember the “alarm bell” of the 2019 mass protests.

Labour Day march cancelled

A planned Labour Day march in Hong Kong was scrapped after one of its organisers was said to have gone missing for four hours last Wednesday morning.

The group attempting to organise the march released a statement on Facebook on Wednesday morning, saying that Joe Wong – one of the organisers and the former chairperson of defunct pro-democracy coalition the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) – had disappeared from his home and been unreachable since 7:30 a.m.

Over four hours later, another organiser and former HKCTU member, Denny To, released a statement announcing that Wong had “regained his freedom” at 11:30 a.m. To claimed that Wong had not been arrested, but had experienced an “emotional meltdown” and was under tremendous pressure.

Wong had withdrawn the application for the march, To said, which had yet to receive police approval. Citing Article 63 of the national security law – which prohibits the disclosure of information involved in national security cases – To said he was not able to publicise any further details.

Police confirmed that they had received the cancellation of the request for a Labour Day march. Anyone who gathered unlawfully on Hong Kong Island on May 1 could be charged with participating in an illegal assembly, which is punishable by up to five years in prison, a police spokesperson warned.

Hong Kong’s security chief had criticised the organisers for making “irresponsible” comments that played down the “safety risks” of public rallies. Wong and To had earlier urged the police not to “exaggerate” the risk of demonstrations being “hijacked.”

Chief Executive John Lee said in early April that the police chief has to ensure that public rallies will not violate national security or public safety, or the rights of those not participating in the demonstrations.

Media outlets barred from gov’t event

The Hong Kong government barred several government-registered media outlets from covering a National Security Education Day event last month, ignoring emails and evading questions by phone when challenged as to why.

Several mainstream and digital outlets, including HKFP and a wire service, were inexplicably rejected from attending an opening ceremony at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, officiated by top Chinese official Xia Baolong. Xia was on an inspection visit as the director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.

When repeatedly asked why by HKFP over four days, the Information Services Department (ISD) declined to reply in writing and stated in six phone calls that the “enquiry has been forwarded to the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR.”

It is the second time that media outlets have been barred from an event involving a high-profile mainland Chinese official. Last July, Japan’s Nikkei, Asahi Shimbun, and Kyodo News, Taiwan’s CTV, Getty Images in the US, Europe’s EPA as well as Hong Kong’s InMedia, PSHK, TMHK and HKFP were effectively barred from covering the inauguration of Chief Executive John Lee, which was overseen by China’s leader Xi Jinping. The ISD initially cited Covid-19 and capacity concerns.

National security threats still ‘lurk’ in society

Threats to national security still “lurk” in Hong Kong society, Chief Executive John Lee warned at the opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day last month.

The city must not underestimate the risks to national security as the world experienced a “major upheaval” with geopolitical tensions and rapid changes in international relations, the leader said. He claimed that a minority of “anti-China and anti-Hong Kong elements” continued to operate underground and were waiting for opportunities to “strike back.”

“Some people have been arrested recently for openly inciting violence online, which indicates that these threats to national security are still lurking in various parts of society,” Lee said.

Vows to crack down on ‘hostile forces’ 

Hong Kong should never forget the “alarm bell” of the 2019 anti-extradition bill unrest and the harm it brought to the city, Chief Executive John Lee said as he vowed to crack down on “hostile and destructive forces.”

Hong Kong must maintain its “hard-won” stability, with the administrative, legislative and judicial branches of the government making every effort to safeguard national security, Lee told the press after sending off Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, who had concluded a six-day visit to the city.

The Chinese official delivered a keynote speech on the National Security Education Day. He slammed the 2019 extradition bill protests as leaving a “permanent scar” on the city and resulting in “everlasting pain.” It was impossible for Hong Kong to erase such a “painful memory,” Xia said, adding the city must not descend into chaos again.

He also said protesting was not the only way for people to express their views.

‘Words can be weapons’

Director of Public Prosecutions Maggie Yang cited the cases of Tong Ying-kit and Ma Chun-man to explain why people would be found guilty of inciting succession under the Beijing-imposed national security law in an RTHK programme aired last month.

The government lawyer said incitement and conspiracy were Common Law offences used to prevent certain crimes from happening.

“Some offences are so serious that we have to nip them in the bud. In fact, I always tell people that ‘words are weapons’… If what a person says leads other people to commit serious offences, it is impossible for them to be unscathed by the law,” Yang said.

Appeals against national security acquittals

Hong Kong’s Department of Justice (DoJ) is planning to amend the law to allow appeals against not-guilty verdicts in national security cases tried at the city’s High Court, local media reported last month. To date, no one tried under the national security law has been acquitted of their charges.

Currently, the prosecution cannot appeal against a Court of First Instance decision to acquit a defendant, even in cases under the Beijing-imposed national security law. According to existing legislation, the justice department can raise questions of law to the Court of Appeal, but the appeal court’s decision would not impact the initial not-guilty verdict.

Local outlets including Ming Pao and HK01 reported that the DoJ was proposing to amend the Criminal Procedure Ordinance such that the prosecution could “appeal by way of case stated,” meaning that the appeal court could overturn an acquittal and order a retrial.

Appeal by way of case stated are currently only available for cases handled at magistrates’ courts and the District Court.

‘Step up’ screening of library materials

Hong Kong government auditors called on the department managing the city’s public libraries to “step up efforts” to make sure library materials do not threaten national security.

In a report published last Wednesday, the Audit Commission said there was a “[n]eed to step up efforts in examining library materials for safeguarding national security and talking follow-up actions.”

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) launched a preliminary review of library materials for “national security risk considerations” in 2021. “Since then, LCSD has been conducting examination of the materials identified in the preliminary review for taking necessary follow-up actions,” the report read.

The commission said that Hong Kong Public Libraries had already completed the review of library books, with those deemed “manifestly contrary” to national security removed. Follow-up work was still in progress as of February, it added.

Flag day fundraisers permits

The application form for holding charitable flag day fundraisers in Hong Kong was updated to warn organisers not to use proceedings for acts or activities contrary to national security, otherwise they risk having their permits revoked.

The Social Welfare department said it updated the clauses to “provide a more specific explanation of the relevant requirements,” adding that it had not found any organisations who have breached such terms.

47 Democrats trial

The high-profile national security trial concerning 47 pro-democracy figures who stand accused of conspiring to commit subversion continued in April.

Former district councillor Andrew Chiu, one of the 31 defendants who pleaded guilty earlier, finished testifying against his fellow democrats. During his 17-day testimony as a prosecution witness, Chiu admitted to a judge that an “anti-government” tendency emerged during the course of organising an unofficial primary election in 2020.

He also told a panel of three designated judges presiding over the case that an online campaign which called on people not to vote for candidates who failed to join an unofficial legislative primary poll would have violated the city’s election laws.

During the trial hearing in April, prosecutors alleged that former lawmaker Dennis Kwok was a “co-conspirator” in the city’s largest national security case against 47 pro-democracy figures. The ex-Civic Party politician became the latest co-conspirator to be named by the prosecution. Earlier, it was alleged that former district councillor Choy Chak-hung and ex-chief officer of pro-democracy group Power for Democracy Luke Lai were co-conspirators in the case.

The closely-watched trial, which is estimated to last for 90 days, was adjourned to May 4. According to local media, the delay came after the prosecution told the court last week that they just managed to unlock the phone of defendant Ben Chung, who is set to testify as the third accomplice witness.

Stand News trial

Hong Kong journalist Chung Pui-kuen completed his testimony over 17 allegedly “seditious” articles published by defunct news outlet Stand News after 36 days on the stand. The trial, which began last October and was scheduled to last for 20 days, will hear closing arguments in June.

Foreign lawyer’s visa

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai filed a legal bid against the government decision to reject any further work visa applications from King’s Counsel Timothy Owen, whom he had hired for his national security case.

Lai, 75, who founded the defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, faces a total of four charges under the Beijing-imposed national security law and the colonial-era sedition law.

100% conviction rate

Secretary for Security Chris Tang hailed last month the 100 per cent conviction rate in cases concerning national security. He said the arrest and prosecution work over the past three years was done “very seriously.”

“All 71 people who have gone through judicial proceedings were convicted. Only a small number of people in Hong Kong were involved,” Tang said at a launch ceremony of a new programme by government-funded broadcaster RTHK about the Beijing-enacted legislation.

The city’s justice chief Paul Lam said in early April that the number of arrests and convictions since the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong was “very small.”

Student denied bail

Student Cheung Ho-yeung, 23, accused of conspiracy to commit terrorist activities under the Beijing-imposed national security law was denied bail at a Hong Kong court last month.

Cheung is accused of conspiring with others “with a view to coercing” the Central and Hong Kong governments, or “intimidating the public in order to pursue political agenda, to organise, plan, commit, participate in or threaten to commit terrorist activities” between April 1, 2021 and July 5, 2021.

He is facing an alternative charge of “conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life or property.”

Returning Valiant arrest

Hong Kong’s national security police arrested a man accused of helping a group of fraudsters allegedly linked to “a local extremist gang” – an apparent reference to a self-proclaimed revolutionary organisation called Returning Valiant.

The 47-year-old was arrested in Western District on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. Police said the man allegedly helped a fraud syndicate submit false information to a local bank and borrow a total of HK$4.7 million under the “Special 100% Loan Guarantee” scheme, the government’s Covid-19 relief measure for small and medium-sized companies.

The man was released on police bail.

UK report on press freedom

The Hong Kong government slammed a report by a UK all-party parliamentary group that said the Beijing-imposed national security law had been used to “stifle free media and target individual journalists, which has crushed freedom of expression and media pluralism in Hong Kong.”

The report, titled “Media Freedom in Hong Kong: the case of Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily,” was published by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong earlier in April. The group began an inquiry in February into press freedom in Hong Kong, and on the national security case against pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

Emigrated journalists

Hong Kong journalists who have emigrated face a number of difficulties when trying to start their careers in media overseas, according to a report published by an overseas journalists’ body.

However, most of those who responded to the small-sample poll told researchers that they had no plans to return to Hong Kong and did not regret their decision to leave the city despite the challenges.

UN rights expert urges China to reconsider security law

China should conduct a “review and reconsideration” of Hong Kong’s national security law to ensure it is “in compliance with China’s international human rights obligations,” United Nations human rights expert Margaret Satterthwaite said last month.

“Provisions of the [security law] could undermine the independence of the Judiciary in the HKSAR and restrict access to justice in Hong Kong,” Satterthwaite wrote to China’s permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva.

Student arrested under security law while abroad

A top Japanese official said the arrest of a Hong Kong student under the city’s national security law “undermined people’s trust in One Country, Two Systems,” after she allegedly posted pro-independence messages online whilst in Japan.

Japanese media reported that Hong Kong police arrested a 23-year-old student in March for allegedly inciting secession under the Beijing-imposed national security law. The student reportedly published social media posts whilst she was studying in Japan.

National security hotline

Over 400,000 reports have been made to the national security hotline, the police said, adding that the figure showed Hongkongers supported the security law.

The hotline was set up in November 2020 “with a view to facilitating members of the public to provide or report national security related information,” according to the police’s website.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of April 5, 251 people had been arrested over suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted on June 30, 2020, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among those, 151 people and five companies have been charged.

According to the Bureau, 71 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing; among them 29 have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing under the Beijing-imposed law. It did not specify the offences committed by the remaining 42 defendants.

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In March, Hong Kong police imposed strict rules on public procession as the city saw a protest against a government policy for the first time in at least years. The authorities made several high-profile arrests under the national security law, while a veteran democrat was sent back to prison pending trial after he was said to have breached bail terms. Closely-watched trials involving 47 democracy advocates and former Stand News editors, respectively, continued.

New rules for demo

Hong Kong saw its first protest against a government policy in about two years in late March, which went ahead under strict rules including a cap on numbers and a requirement that everyone wear an identifying number tag.

There were few public processions against official policy in the city following the enactment of the national security law in June 2020 and the implementation of Covid-19 social-distancing measures.

Police demanded organisers of the march against a land reclamation plan in Tseung Kwan O to limit the number of participants at 100. Those joining the procession were asked to wear number tags around their necks, while officers surrounded the group with a cordon. Journalists were separated from the marchers.

Protest organiser Cyrus Chan said the Force reviewed banners and placards for “politically sensitive and seditious words.”

Police said “comprehensive” risk assessments were conducted on public events based on their “purpose, nature, number of participants, past experience and latest developments”.

Albert Ho’s bail revoked

Veteran democrat and rights activist Albert Ho, who is set to stand trial under the national security law, was remanded into custody on March 22 after a magistrate ruled that he had breached his bail terms.

The revocation of bail came after the former Democratic Party chairman was apprehended by national security police. Sources told local media that the arrest was over allegedly interfering with witnesses.

The 71-year-old  stands accused of inciting subversion along with the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and two more of the group’s former leaders. He was granted bail in August last year.

The conditions imposed on Ho under the security law’s stringent threshold for bail included a cash bail of HK$700,000 and a surety of HK$400,000. He was also prohibited from doing any act or making any speech that could be deemed as violating the security legislation.

He was also barred from directly or indirectly contacting any foreign officials or their staff members.

The United Nations called on Hong Kong authorities to release Ho and let him “continue his urgent medical care.”

High-profile detentions

Veteran labour rights’ activist Elizabeth Tang, former chief executive of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, was arrested for allegedly colluding with foreign forces. Tang was arrested outside Stanley Prison after visiting her husband Lee Cheuk-yan, a co-defendant of Albert Ho.

Ho’s brother, solicitor Frederick Ho, and Tang’s sister Marilyn Tang, were arrested after they were accused of removing evidence from Elizabeth Tang’s home.

The trio were granted bail.

Police question ex-members of labour group

Four former members of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) – the city’s largest pro-democracy labour group before it disbanded in 2021 – were taken by national security police to assist an investigation last month.

Among them was Leo Tang, the former vice-chairperson of the HKCTU.

He told HKFP that it was not an arrest and he could not give further details due to confidentiality terms under the national security law. The police reportedly took their phones and computers. The four were released later.

2 men arrested over allegedly possessing seditious publications

Hong Kong police arrested two men, aged 38 and 50, for allegedly possessing several publications that were capable of “inciting hatred or contempt against the Central government, the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong judiciary.”

The publications in question were also capable of inciting others to use violence or disobey the law, they said, adding that they were related to a completed sedition trial.

Sing Tao and HK01 cited sources that the publications were children’s books about sheep and wolves that were found to be seditious in a high-profile trial last year.

Trio jailed for up to 10 months over ‘seditious’ book

Three people were jailed for five to 10 months after they pleaded guilty to selling copies of a “seditious book” at a Lunar New Year fair.

Alan Keung, known as “Pastor Keung,” who founded independent outlet Free HK Media, was sentenced to eight months behind bars by Principal Magistrate Peter Law under the colonial-era sedition law.

Earlier in March, the 31-year-old and his co-defendants Alex Lee, 52, and Cannis Chan, 48, admitted to conspiring to promote, sell, or display for sale publications on Facebook, Instagram and at a stall at Ginza Plaza in Mong Kok between December 2, 2022 and January 17 with a seditious intention.

Lee, who was said to be the owner of the booth, was handed a prison term of five months. His wife Chan, on the other hand, was jailed for 10 months, the longest among the trio.

Ex-cop jailed over ‘seditious’ posts about death of marine officer

Former Hong Kong police officer Chui Chun-man was sentenced to 10 months in jail after he was convicted under the colonial-era sedition law in connection with social media posts about the death of a marine officer.

He was arrested and charged after he posted comments on the police Facebook page and his own page about the death of Marine officer Lam Yuen-yee in September 2021. Chui resigned from the Force two months later in November that year.

Lam died during a law enforcement operation against suspected smuggling. The speedboat carrying Lam capsized after colliding with a vessel carrying suspected smugglers. Her body was found on September 27, 2021.

Chui left comments on the police Facebook page including “the marine female officer should be dead,” and shared articles about Lam on his own social media page, according to the prosecution.

Woman denied bail over ‘seditious’ online posts

Hong Kong woman Law Oi-wa, 48, was denied bail under the sedition law after she was charged with “doing an act or acts with seditious intention” in connection with posts on Facebook and Twitter. 

Local media outlets reported that the content included the popular 2019 protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times” and pro-independence chants, as well as an image of Hong Kong’s flag in black and white – known as the “black bauhinia” flag.

Among the posts was also reportedly a reference to protest song Glory to Hong Kong as the city’s “national anthem.”

47 democrats trial continues

The trial of a landmark national security case involving 47 pro-democracy figures continued in March. Former lawmaker Au Nok-hin, one of the 31 defendants who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit subversion, completed his testimony for the prosecution.

Ex-district councillor Andrew Chiu was summoned to the witness stand on March 29 as the second accomplice witness to testify against his peers. He accused legal scholar Benny Tai, who was the leader of the 2014 Occupy Central movement, of intending to “politicise” the work of district councils and promote his ideology of using the constitution to resist the government.

Chiu suggested that following a landslide victory in the 2019 District Council election, some members of the pro-democracy camp hoped to “ride on” public discontent triggered by the extradition bill and seek majority control in the legislature.

Local prosecutors named uncharged “co-conspirators” in the case surrounding an unofficial legislative primary election held in July 2020. They included former Kwun Tong District Council chairman Choy Chak-hung and Luke Lai, who was the chief officer of defunct political group Power for Democracy.

A total of 16 democrats are currently facing a no-jury trial after they denied the charge. They could face up to life behind bars if convicted.

As of the end of March, the lengthy trial, expected to last 90 days, had passed the one-third mark. The prosecution revealed earlier that they would call upon two more defendants – former district councillor Ben Chung and founder of retail chain AbouThai Mike Lam – as their witnesses. Two police officers are also expected to give statements as expert witnesses on the operation of Facebook and YouTube.

Stand News trial

Another closely-watched trial involving two former top editors of shuttered independent media outlet Stand News saw the prosecution concluding its questioning of one of the defendants after 26 days.

Lead prosecutor Laura Ng finished grilling Chung Pui-kuen, Stand News’ ex-chief editor, in late March, when the trial – which began last October and was initially estimated to last for 20 days – entered its 47th day. 

The 53-year-old stands accused of conspiring to publish “seditious” publications, along with Stand News’ former acting chief editor Patrick Lam and the outlet’s parent company.

A journalist from local Chinese newspaper Ming Pao was reportedly pushed by a police officer outside the District Court where the Stand News trial took place. The reporter was said to be filming prosecutor Ng as she was leaving the courthouse in Wan Chai.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) urged the police to “maintain professionalism,” while the Force said they deployed “appropriate manpower” to maintain order at the District Court and would remind their personnel to “pay attention to personal conduct.”

Separately, HKJA received reports from several journalists that two men had attempted to follow them after the Stand News trial on March 21. The reports came as an HKFP court reporter was tailed from her home to her office for over an hour by two men with earpieces.

Some journalists speculated that the men were plainclothes law enforcement officers “based on their behaviour and outfits,” the press group said.

Police responded by issuing an open letter to HKJA to express “deep regret and strong discontent” over the “unverified speculations.” Such claims harmed the reputation of all law enforcement officers and tarnished the professional image of journalists of reporting based on facts, police wrote.

Tiananmen vigil group activists file appeal 

Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan, and Tsui Hon-kwong, who were former leaders of the group which once organised Hong Kong’s annual mass Tiananmen vigils, filed an appeal against conviction and sentence for refusing to comply with a data demand from national security police.

The trio were sentenced to four-and-a-half months in jail earlier in March by Principal Magistrate Peter Law after they were convicted of  failing to comply with a notice from national security police demanding information.

Tang and Tsui were granted bail pending appeal, while Chow, the former vice-chairperson of the Alliance, rejected bail “on grounds of freedom of expression.”

Martial arts coach seeks to appeal jail term

Hong Kong martial arts coach Denis Wong filed an appeal against his five-year jail term under the national security law, after he was sentenced last month by District Judge Ernest Lin for inciting subversion and possessing arms without a licence.

Arrested last March under the colonial-era sedition law, Wong’s charge was upgraded to incitement to subversion last September.

The maximum penalty of incitement to subversion is 10 years’ imprisonment, however, sentences handed down at the District Court are capped at seven years.

Mask ban remains in place

Secretary for Security Chris Tang told lawmakers last month that it was necessary to retain the mask ban introduced during the extradition bill protests of 2019, as national security concerns remain in the city.

Hong Kong was one of the last places in the world to scrap its Covid-19 mask mandate, with the requirement lifted on March 1. It prompted questions over whether people would be seen as breaching the law if they wore face coverings at lawful rallies, as the anti-mask law remains in place.

Tang faced questions from the sole self-proclaimed non-pro-establishment lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen, who said the current social circumstances was “very different” compared to 2019 and suggested the authorities to clarify under what circumstances wearing masks would be allowed at an assembly

In response, the security chief said the government has to prepare for the worst and “nip national security crimes in the bud.” Examples of national security threats over the past year included “seditious” online comments and ammunition found inside a residential apartment last year.

Women’s group cancels rally

The Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association cancelled a police-approved protest the night before it was scheduled to be held. The march would have been one of the first of its kind following the outbreak of Covid-19 in the city over three years ago.

The announcement was made on the association’s Facebook page, but the group did not give any reason behind the protest’s cancellation.

Police said that the authorities approved the association’s application to hold the rally, after conducting risk assessment. The association decided to cancel the protest “after balancing the interests of all parties,” said Cheng Wai-kin, acting senior superintendent of the police.

Cheng did not give answers to questions over whether the cancellation was linked to the start of the Chinese parliamentary “Two Sessions” meetings in Beijing.

Requirements for aspiring principals

Hong Kong’s Education Bureau overhauled its list of attributes for aspiring school principals to include possessing a “sense of national identity” and safeguarding the “dignity of the education profession.”

The circular also saw the redaction of some attributes – among them possessing “political astuteness,” determination to “protect the best interest of school members” and “resourcefulness and decisiveness” when working with a team.

The list of desired qualities is part of the Education Bureau’s “preparation for principalship course,” which aspiring school principals must take in order to work at most local schools. The course “helps aspiring principals understand the values, knowledge, skills and attributes required of school principals,” according to the Bureau.

The last time the list of attributes was updated was in February 2019.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of March 17, 249 people had been arrested over suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted on June 30, 2020, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among those, 149 people and five companies have been charged.

According to the Bureau, 67 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing; among them 29 have been convicted or awaiting sentencing under the Beijing-imposed law. It did not specify the offences committed by the remaining 42 defendants.

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In February, the landmark national security trial of 47 democrats began after some had spent almost two years in detention. The sedition case against now-defunct independent media outlet Stand News dragged on, as prosecutors grilled a former chief editor about the 2019 protests and his intentions in publishing certain opinion articles.

Democrats’ trial begins

Hong Kong’s largest national security trial began on February 6, almost two years after the case of the 47 pro-democracy figures was first mentioned in court in March 2021.

Former lawmakers, ex-district councillors and a former Stand News reporter are among 16 defendants facing a no-jury trial. They deny conspiracy to commit subversion in connection with an opposition primary election held in July 2020 to choose candidates for an upcoming legislative election, while 31 other democrats have pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors say the defendants, had they won a majority in the legislature, planned to veto budget bills with the aim of toppling the chief executive.They could face up to life imprisonment if convicted.

The founder of retail chain AbouThai, Mike Lam, changed his plea to guilty on the first day of the trial. Together with ex-legislator Au Nok-hin and former district council members Andrew Chiu and Ben Chung, he is set to testify against his fellow democrats.

So far, the panel of three handpicked judges overseeing the case has heard the prosecution’s opening statement and Au’s testimony as the first prosecution witness. Benny Tai, who taught law at the University of Hong Kong before being sacked in late July 2020, was said to have deemed majority control in the Legislative Council to be a “lethal constitutional weapon” that could cause “mass destruction.”

During his testimony, Au, labelled as one of the organisers of the scheme, revealed the democrats were divided over candidate selection in the primary. It was also disclosed in court that the former Democratic Party politician was already assisting the police in September 2021, around six months after he was detained.

The prosecution has finished questioning Au and he will face cross-examination by the defence.

Prosecutors also confirmed that they intend to use the co-conspirator rule to implicate all defendants and submitted a 25-page evidence list detailing the exhibits they planned to rely on.

The lengthy trial continues in March. It is estimated to last at least 90 working days.

Suspicions of “paid” courtgoers emerged in the first week of the closely-watched trial, after some people who were waiting in line for admission tickets told reporters they did not know what they were queuing for.

Some individuals who secured tickets to the public gallery in court were also repeatedly seen leaving the courthouse before the hearing began.

An HKFP reporter followed a man and saw him counting money along with other tickets at a restaurant near the courthouse. Online news outlet InMedia later reported that the queuing arrangements appeared to be coordinated by a man with links to a pro-establishment group.

Stand News trial

The trial of two former top editors of shuttered media outlet Stand News under the colonial-era sedition law is set to continue until the end of March. It was forecast to last 20 days when it began in October last year.

Stand News’ ex-editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, accused of conspiring to publish 17 allegedly “seditious” articles between July 2020 and December 2021, has been questioned for weeks by lead prosecutor Laura Ng.

The other defendants are former acting chief editor Patrick Lam and the outlet’s parent company Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited.

Ng grilled Chung on his perceptions of the background to the case, including the 2019 extradition bill protests. Her questions touched on the credibility of police brutality accusations, opinion articles published by Stand News on the primary election and whether the veteran journalist would have interviewed Osama Bin Laden after the September 11 attacks.

She also asked if supporters of the Hong Kong localist camp were more prone to misinformation, while citing three other Stand News op-eds as proof of Chung’s intentions when he published an opinion piece by self-exiled activist Nathan Law on the 47 democrats.

The trial will resume on March 7.

Martial arts coach jailed for 5 years

Hong Kong martial arts coach Denis Wong was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to inciting subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law and to one count of possessing weapons without a license.

The 59-year-old was said to have made subversive posts and shared subversive messages on his two Facebook accounts. His posts were “designed to rekindle the feelings of discontent and disgust against the Police Force, the Hong Kong SAR and the Chinese Government,” District Judge Ernest Lin ruled.

During the sentencing, Lin accidentally cut himself while handling a machete that had been admitted as evidence. The weapon was seized from Wong’s home in Sha Tin along with two other machetes, two crossbows, one axe, three swords, 21 arrows and 40 short arrows.

Wong’s co-defendant and assistant Iry Cheung was jailed for 16 months for weapons possession.

Ex-cop convicted

Former police officer Chui Chun-man was convicted under the sedition law over Facebook comments about the death of marine police officer Lam Yuen-yee in September 2021.

Lam drowned when a boat used for smuggling collided with her police boat. Her body was found days after the crash.

Chui was said to have left comments on the police Facebook page, including one reading “the marine female officer should be dead.” He also shared articles about Lam being missing on his own Facebook page, with comments such as “hopefully [we] can identify the body earlier.”

Prison visits

Secretary for Security Chris Tang alleged that some young inmates had been inculcated with hatred of the Hong Kong government during prison visits. Some visitors, who met inmates they did not know personally, have used different means to “corrupt” youngsters jailed for offences linked to the 2019 extradition bill protests, he said.

The official warned that such “soft resistance tactics” could endanger national security.

Tang’s accusations came days after both of the city’s pro-Beijing newspapers, Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po, published reports on prison visitors and called them “remnants of the black riot.” The papers said these individuals were “stirring up trouble,” including telling inmates to file complaints against corrections officers.

Overseas lawyers

The Hong Kong government submitted a proposal to amend the Legal Practitioners Ordinance. The change would require local courts to obtain a certificate from the city’s leader before considering whether to allow foreign defence lawyers to appear in national security cases.

China’s top decision-making body issued its first interpretation of the national security law last December. It did not rule directly on whether foreign lawyers should be allowed in national security cases, but said the chief executive and the city’s national security committee had the final say in the matter.

The debate arose from the high-profile national security case against pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who hired British lawyer Timothy Owen as his representative. Chief Executive John Lee invited Beijing to intervene in the matter last November, after the High Court and Court of Appeal refused government requests to block Owen’s admission.

The proposed amendments would not affect previous court rulings, said Lee’s adviser and Senior Counsel Ronny Tong, but the authorities may reject Owen’s appearance for other reasons.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of February 17, 243 people had been arrested over suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted on June 30, 2020, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among those, 149 people and five companies have been charged.

According to the Bureau, 62 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing; among them 26 have been convicted or awaiting sentencing under the Beijing-imposed law. It did not specify the offences committed by the remaining 36 defendants.

Separately, the Correctional Services Department revealed in its annual review that 22 people were admitted to correctional institutes last year under the national security law.

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In January, the former editor-in-chief of shuttered independent outlet Stand News delivered his testimony as the sedition trial against him, another ex-editor and the platform’s parent company continued.

Meanwhile, six people were arrested by national security police over an allegedly “seditious” book in the largest national security arrests in months, the high-profile trial involving pro-democracy figures charged with conspiring to commit subversion under the national security law was delayed until February, and legal professionals weighed in on Beijing’s interpretation of the security legislation.

Stand News trial

The trial against two ex-top editors of defunct news outlet Stand News continued this month, with Chung Pui-kuen, the former editor-in-chief, taking the stand.

The court heard that Chung had planned to step down following the closure of pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, and that Stand News was committed to protecting freedom of speech.

Allegedly “seditious” articles and opinion pieces were also examined in court, with Chung testifying that the outlet accidentally published an op-ed comparing Hong Kong’s 2019 protests with the Irish War of Independence.

47 democrats

Two years after their arrests, the High Court ruled that those who pleaded guilty among the 47 democrats charged under the national security law will be sentenced after the trial against their co-defendants.

Meanwhile, one of those who was set to stand trial indicated that he would like to change his plea to guilty, meaning that a total of 16 defendants will appear before the panel of three national security judges when hearings begin on February 6, a week later than scheduled.

Jimmy Lai

While the national security trial against Jimmy Lai, the founder of defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, has been adjourned to September, the listing of the newspapers parent company Next Digital was cancelled by Hong Kong’s stock exchange this month.

Additionally, the debate around Beijing’s ruling on whether whether overseas counsels not qualified to practise in Hong Kong could take part in national security cases continued in January.

Following the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress’ (NPCSC) legislative interpretation on the security legislation, the Committee for Safeguarding National Security held its first meeting, and urged the government to amend the Legal Practitioners Ordinance “as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, the head of the Hong Kong Bar Association, Victor Dawes, said the city should not implement a complete ban on overseas barristers participating in national security law cases, and that authorities should exercise the power confirmed by the NPCSC with caution.

Lai’s case has also sparked diplomatic spats further afield. An international legal team claiming to represent Lai, which Lai’s Hong Kong lawyers later denied, met with a UK minister over the media tycoon’s case, causing the Hong Kong government to express its opposition.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also vowed to stand up to “Chinese aggression” and defend Hong Kong’s freedoms. Separately, the Hong Kong administration said it “vehemently refutes” a six-monthly report on the city published by the UK government, which said that Beijing had failed to comply with the Handover agreement.

Also weighing in on the national security law interpretation, US consul general to Hong Kong and Macau Gregory May said it “could further undermine the independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary system.” May’s comments led to the criticism from both Hong Kong and the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong.

New arrests

January saw more arrests under the colonial-era sedition law. A 24-year-old man was arrested soon after the new year over social media posts, including some which called for the city’s independence.

The city also saw the largest arrests by national security police in recent months, with six people apprehended over the production, publishing and sale of a “seditious” book on the 2019 protests and unrest.

Press freedom

In the first month of 2023, defunct independent Hong Kong outlet Citizen News marked the one-year anniversary of its closure by removing all of the content from its website and social media platforms.

Meanwhile, Ming Pao was again criticised by the administration. Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan said that a comic strip published by the newspaper about the NPCSC interpretation made “biased, misleading, and false accusations” about the “constitutional responsibility of the chief executive to safeguard national security.”

Meanwhile, Chief Executive John Lee said in January that there were people using journalism as a cover to pursue political aims, personal benefit, or “launder money” in the city, although he provided no proof to justify his claims.

Complaints, resignations and a new appointment

According to the annual judiciary report released this month, not one of more than 8,600 complaints made against judges or judicial officers last year was deemed to be justified or partly justified. The report also showed that defendants on average had to wait almost a year for their cases to be heard in district court.

It was revealed in January that over 900 civil servants resigned in a three-month period last year, with a union head attributing the exodus of school teachers to greater pressures following the implementation of the national security law.

Hong Kong also saw the appointment of Zheng Yanxiong as the new head of the central government’s Liaison Office in the city. On his first day of office, Zheng – who previously led Hong Kong’s national security agency – said that the city would have a bright future if it stayed on the right course.

Departures, temporary and permanent

Also in January, 91-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was arrested last May under the Beijing-imposed national security law, was allowed to leave the city to attend the funeral of former pope Benedict XVI.

HKFP spoke to a Hong Kong professor who had left the city after hearing that his university allegedly contacted the police over an article he had written about the 2019 protests.

Meanwhile, sports groups under the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong were told to include “China” in their official names or risk having their funding withdrawn.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As of January 20, 243 people had been arrested over suspected acts and activities that endangered national security since the legislation was enacted, according to data provided by the Security Bureau. Among those, 149 people and five companies had been charged.

According to the Bureau, 60 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing; among them 25 have been convicted or awaiting sentencing under the Beijing-imposed security law. It did not specify the offences committed by the remaining 35 defendants.

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In December, Beijing interpreted provisions in the sweeping national security law for the very first time and affirmed the power of the Hong Kong leader and a committee that he chairs to decide whether overseas lawyers may participate in national security trials.

Meanwhile, a former editor of defunct media outlet Stand News was granted bail following close to a year of pre-trial detention under the sedition law, while Hong Kong teachers received new guidelines telling them to study the Beijing-enacted security law.

Foreign lawyers

China’s top legislative body last month confirmed Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s power to bar overseas lawyers from national security trials. Local courts must obtain a certificate from the city’s leader before considering admission for a foreign counsel, Beijing said, or it may trigger a decision by the powerful national security committee chaired by Lee.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) “clarified” Articles 14 and 47 last Friday, marking the first-ever interpretation of the sweeping legislation that was imposed on Hong Kong on June 30, 2020.

The unprecedented move came after Hong Kong’s top court rejected the government’s bid to block British lawyer Timothy Owen from representing pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai in his upcoming national security trial.

The Hong Kong leader subsequently turned to Beijing and asked the NPCSC to determine whether overseas lawyers who were not qualified to practice generally in the city could defend or represent national security suspects.

Lee dismissed concerns that the interpretation granted extended powers to the chief executive, while critics raised concerns that the decision may create a “dual state” in the city’s judicial system.

The Hong Kong Bar Association, on the other hand, said they expected Lee and the national security committee would exercise their power “in a way that fosters the public’s trust in upholding the rule of law.”

It remains unclear whether Owen may appear on behalf of the Apple Daily founder in his trial scheduled for September, 2023. Secretary for Justice Paul Lam cited suggestions that the Legal Practitioners Ordinance be amended so that foreign lawyers will not be entitled to seek admission to participate in national security cases.

“Irrespective of what the committee’s decision might be, a party in cases involving national security still has the right to legal representation,” the justice chief said.

Stand News sedition case

The trial of two former editors of shuttered digital media outlet Stand News under the colonial-era sedition law resumed in late December, after District Judge Kwok Wai-kin rejected an attempt by defendants Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam to terminate the case.

The veteran journalists, who stand accused of conspiring to distribute 17 seditious articles – had sought a permanent halt to the hearing after it was revealed during witness testimony in November that the police had archived hundreds more articles than those provided by the prosecution to the defence as potential evidence.

But the District Court ordered the trial to continue on December 22, saying that a fair hearing was still possible.

Chung, ex-chief editor of Stand News, was granted bail on December 13, after spending almost a year in custody awaiting trial. The court extended bail to the other defendant Lam in November, when the hearing was halted.

New guidelines for teachers

The Education Bureau issued a new set of guidelines for teachers in December, including requiring them to have a “correct understanding” of the Beijing-enacted national security law and the Basic Law.

Applicable to all registered teachers in Hong Kong, the “Guidelines on Teachers’ Professional Conduct” stipulated that those who are deemed to have committed serious misconduct would be disqualified for life.

Teachers were also told to report any activities which they suspected to be illegal or may “violate the moral standards commonly accepted in society.”

Regulations for teachers and the curriculum have been tightened since the 2019 extradition bill protests and unrest, in which young people played a prominent part. Among the 10,279 arrests made by the police as of the end of October, 4,010 were students.

53 Apple store VPN apps unavailable says watchdog

A total of 53 VPN applications have become unavailable in Apple’s Hong Kong App Store since Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in June 2020, a report by AppleCensorship revealed in December. VPN tools are used to circumvent censorship.

The digital freedom watchdog urged the US tech giant to clearly state how it would respond if Hong Kong or Beijing requested that apps be taken down.

‘Insulting anthem’ arrest

A Hong Kong man was arrested under the colonial-era sedition law after he allegedly published social media posts which “insulted” the Chinese national anthem and disclosed the personal data of police officers and their family members without consent.

National anthem row

Google should remove inaccurate search results related to Hong Kong’s national anthem, Chief Executive John Lee said on December 20, citing policies implemented by the tech giant related to removing content for legal reasons, and taking down results that “misrepresent” or “mislead.”

A weeks-long controversy over Hong Kong’s national anthem began when the 2019 pro-democracy protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” was played instead of China’s national anthem “March of the Volunteers” ahead of a rugby match in South Korea. Staff had reportedly played the top listed song after searching for “Hong Kong national anthem” online.

In the days that followed, reports of several other anthem blunders emerged.

Arrest and prosecution tally

As at December 23, 236 people were arrested over suspected acts and activities endangering national security since the sweeping legislation came into force, according to figures provided by the Security Bureau. Among them, 145 individuals and five companies were charged.

The bureau said 59 people have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing in national security cases, while 25 were found guilty or waiting to be sentenced for offences under the national security law. It refused to list out the offences committed by the remaining 34 defendants.

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In November, Hong Kong invited Beijing to interpret the national security law after the city’s top court rejected a government attempt to bar an overseas barrister from appearing in a high-profile case. Hong Kong authorities locked horns with international sports bodies after rugby competition organisers confused a 2019 protest song with the Chinese national anthem.

Security law interpretation

Hong Kong’s government has asked China’s legislature to interpret the national security law which Beijing imposed in June 2020 after the city’s top court rejected attempts to bar a British barrister from a high-profile security case involving media mogul Jimmy Lai.

The controversy began when Lai, who is accused of collusion and sedition, wanted to hire a non-locally registered British barrister to defend him in the trial set to start on December 1. King’s Counsel Timothy Owen was granted an ad-hoc admission by a Hong Kong court in October, but that decision was challenged by the city’s Department of Justice all the way up to the top court.

The Court of Final Appeal dismissed the DoJ’s appeal bid in late November, allowing Owen to represent Lai. Within hours, Chief Executive John Lee said he would invite Beijing to make an interpretation on whether overseas lawyers can take part in Hong Kong’s national security cases. The government submitted its request the same night.

The Secretary for Justice applied for an adjournment of Lai’s case – the trial was then delayed to December 13

Pro-Beijing figures and state media in Hong Kong strongly criticised the court decision to allow Owen’s appearance, even citing a pro-China figure as saying the trial should be shifted to the mainland if necessary.

According to Article 65 of the national security law and Article 158 of the Basic Law, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has the power to interpret Hong Kong’s laws and it has done so five times since the Handover. The most recent case, in 2016, effectively banned six pro-democracy lawmakers-elect from the Legislative Council.

National anthem blunders

Hong Kong’s rugby stars were caught in the crosshairs after a series of national anthem blunders at international competitions. “Glory to Hong Kong,” a song dubbed the “anthem” of the city’s 2019 protests, was played at a Rugby Sevens game in South Korea rather than “March of the Volunteers” – the national anthem the city shares with China.

More blunders later emerged, in which the correct anthem was played but was mislabelled as “Glory to Hong Kong.”

The Hong Kong government demanded answers from the organisers and sporting bodies, including Asia Rugby, over the incidents, calling for a full investigation after competition officials admitted “human errors.” Leader John Lee said Hong Kong police would launch their own probe to see if the incidents violated the city’s national anthem law or national security law.

Some pro-Beijing politicians also slammed the players for their “lack of response” when the wrong tune was played. The Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong then announced planned new guidelines for athletes in such situations. Players would be told to make a “time out” signal to the match organisers.

The government also asked a search engine, reportedly Google, to pin “March of the Volunteers” at the top of search results for “Hong Kong national anthem.”

A man was arrested and denied bail for sharing a clip of the wrong song being played at the Sevens game, allegedly with a message of thanks to South Korea, for “acknowledging Hong Kong’s national anthem.”

Minimum sentence for ‘serious’ offences

A Hong Kong court made a landmark ruling, stipulating that a minimum sentence should apply for people convicted of national security offences that are of “serious” nature.

The Court of Appeal dismissed a legal challenge by university student Lui Sai-yu, who was jailed for five years for inciting secession by selling weapons on Telegram and posting messages which advocated Hong Kong independence.

Lui had pleaded guilty and was originally sentenced to three years and eight months, after a District Court judge gave him a one-third jail term discount – a frequent practice in the common law system, encouraging defendants to plead guilty early on and save time. But the same judge raised Lui’s sentence to five years following representations by the prosecution, citing the national security law’s minimum sentence of that duration for “serious” offences.

The Court of Appeal ruling could have a far-reaching impact – with at least one activist among the 47 democrats involved in a subversion case saying her mitigation plea may make reference to legal arguments in Lui’s case.

Lawyers in other national security cases also said a minimum sentence would give future defendants no incentive to plead guilty, if they could not expect the same jail term discount as regular offenders.

612 Humanitarian Relief Fund

Six pro-democracy figures, including Hong Kong’s 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, were convicted and fined up to HK$4,000 for failing to register a now-disbanded protester relief fund as a society.

Zen, barrister Margaret Ng, ex-lawmaker Cyd Ho, scholar Hui Po-keung and singer-activist Denise Ho were the former trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided financial and medical support to protesters involved in the 2019 protests and unrest. The sixth person was Sze Ching-wee, secretary for the fund.

All six were previously arrested on suspicion of conspiring to collude with foreign powers, an offence under the security law. They were released on bail and no charges have been laid so far.

Stand News sedition trial

The trial against the now-defunct Stand News was halted around a week after it began. The media outlet and two of its former editors, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, are accused of conspiring to publish “seditious publications,” under a colonial-era law.

The trial started in late October and was scheduled to last 20 days. But on the fifth day the defence requested a permanent stay of proceedings, citing improper handling of prosecution evidence after more than 1,500 pages worth of evidence were not disclosed to the defence before trial.

The lawyer for Chung and Lam argued that the failure may cause a delay in the trial process and result in the defendants being detained for longer than their possible maximum sentence. If approved, the application for a permanent stay would terminate the trial and see the defendants released immediately.

Lam, who was the acting chief editor, was then granted bail while Chung did not apply for bail.

Total arrests

As of November 25, a total of 235 people had been arrested for national security-related offences since the law came into force on June 30, 2020, according to figures from the Security Bureau. So far, 144 individuals and five companies have been charged, and 58 people convicted.

The figures cover both people arrested under the national security law and those held under another law covering sedition. The Security Bureau did not provide separate figures for sedition offences, despite having done so previously.

Correction 6/12: Article 158 of the Basic Law empowers Beijing to interpret the city’s laws, as opposed to Article 156, as stated in an early version of this article. We regret the error.

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In October, four pro-democracy Returning Valiant members became the first minors to be sentenced under the Beijing-imposed national security law. Student Politicism also saw former leaders jailed. A court ruled that journalistic materials do not have absolute immunity when it comes to criminal and national security cases. And Chief Executive John Lee put emphasis on national security and national education in his first Policy Address.

HKFP continues its monthly roundup of developments.

Returning Valiant

A Hong Kong court sentenced five teenage members of a self-proclaimed “revolutionary” political group Returning Valiant to a training centre for conspiring to incite subversion over calls for an “armed uprising.” Four of them became the first minors to be sentenced under the security law.

Training centres are alternatives to imprisonment for those aged below 21 – the period of detention ranges from six months to three years.

The five included Yuen Ka-him, 17, Wan Chung-wai, 16, Leung Yung-wan, 17, Tseung Chau Ching-yu, 17, and Kwok Man-hei, 19. They were among seven people who earlier pleaded guilty to the subversion charge. Their two remaining co-defendants will be sentenced in November.

District Judge Kwok Wai-kin, who is also a handpicked national security judge, said offences committed by all seven defendants were of a “serious nature,” as the group had repeatedly spread subversive messages via street booths and online platforms, including promoting “bloodshed revolution” and urging people to “fight without a bottom line.”

According to the security law, such offences carry a penalty of fixed-term imprisonment of no less than five years but not more than 10 years. Kwok said he only “downgraded” the level of severity to “minor” owing to the defendants’ young age and immaturity.

The sentencing drew international attention, with the United Nations saying it was “alarmed.” The UN Human Rights Office spokesperson said the body has urged the Hong Kong authorities to repeal the law and refrain from using it, but the request fell on deaf ears.

The Hong Kong government hit back at the UN criticism, saying the security law was enacted to “restore the enjoyment of rights and freedoms that people in Hong Kong had been unable to enjoy during the period of serious violence between June 2019 and early 2020.”

Student Politicism

Another now-defunct pro-democracy activist group, Student Politicism, also saw four of their members sentenced to up to three years in prison or a training centre after they pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to incite subversion under the national security law. They included ex-convenor Wong Yat-chin, ex-secretary general Chan Chi-sum and ex-spokespersons Jessica Chu and Alice Wong.

The group was said to have promoted the concept of a “Hong Kong nation” and encouraged other people to take part in a resistance by organising street booths.

The defendants were also said to have used the protest slogan “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” Despite the fact the High Court had yet to rule on whether the slogan had the capability to incite others to commit secession, designated national security judge Kwok Wai-kin said the group used the phrase to promote Hong Kong independence.

Jimmy Lai

Jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai lost a bid to prevent police going through journalistic material on phones seized from him earlier. He had sought to block the search warrant issued under the national security law.

Lai, 74, who founded the defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, faces four charges, including two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign countries or external elements, one count of collusion with foreign forces, and one count of conspiracy to print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications.

A three-judge panel ruled that  “despite its importance to the freedom of the press, the protection afforded to journalistic material is not absolute.”

Excluding journalistic material from the definition of “specified evidence” would also reduce the effectiveness of police investigations and prevent the national security law from serving its legislated purpose, which was to “effectively” stop, prevent, and punish offences endangering national security, the judges wrote.

Meanwhile, Lai was allowed by a court to hire a barrister from the UK to handle his high-profile national security trial. King’s Counsel Timothy Owen is set to represent Lai in the trial scheduled in December. King’s Counsels are the equivalent of senior counsels in Hong Kong, and they require permission to be allowed to represent clients in the city’s courts.

The decision was met with opposition from the secretary for justice and the Bar Council of the Hong Kong Bar Association, arguing the issues involved in the case were not of “unusual difficulty or complexity.” The Department of Justice later officially filed an appeal.

Sedition cases

Another high profile sedition case in October involved popular radio host Edmund “Giggs” Wan. The 54-year-old was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after he reached a plea agreement with the prosecution over his sedition and money laundering charges.

The sedition charge related to 39 programmes hosted by Wan on D100 radio between February and November 2020 that contained “seditious” content, some of which “incited others to resist or overthrow the Chinese Communist Party” and “promote Hong Kong independence.”

Other cases included two court spectators, who were jailed for up to one year for “uttering seditious words” after clapping and criticising a magistrate during a court hearing that involved activist Chow Hang-tung. One of them was also convicted of committing “acts with seditious intention” for operating a YouTube channel that commented on protest-related cases.

An autistic civil servant from the Inland Revenue Department was also jailed for six months for publishing “seditious” online posts on discussion forum LIHKG between January 2020 and August 2022, advocating independence for the city and “actual armed resistance movements” against the authorities.

Separately, a mainland Chinese man who held a work visa in Hong Kong was arrested on suspicion of breaching the sedition law. The man, who is an engineer, allegedly put up posters with protest slogans related to Covid-19 policies which could “provoke hatred or contempt” against the Chinese leader.

Policy Address

National security was one of the main topics in Chief Executive John Lee’s maiden Policy Address. He announced that the city will bring laws against insulting the regional flag and emblem in line with those pertaining to the national flag.

Lee also promised to embark on preparatory work for the city’s local security law – Article 23 – despite taking the legislation off the 2022 Legislative Council schedule. He said the government wanted to make sure the law – which was shelved in 2003 amid mass protest – was “truly effective” when implemented and that more in-depth and comprehensive studies were needed.

The address also gave focus to promoting national education, earmarking HK$60 million for kindergartens to organise activities for young pupils to “learn Chinese culture from an early age.”

More teachers will also be required to pass a new Basic Law and national security law test prior to their employment. Newly appointed educators at public sector schools, as well as those at Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools and kindergartens joining a government scheme will be subject to the requirement from next school year.

Ming Pao cartoon

Hong Kong police expressed “strong concerns” over a satirical cartoon published in the Ming Pao newspaper that contained what they called “misleading content,” according to local media reports.

The illustration in question depicted officers outside a school in full riot gear. “What have the students done today, headteacher Chan?” the police ask a bespectacled woman, who lists their offences – swearing, losing an eraser, having laser pointers in their bags and talking back to and allegedly intimidating teachers.

A number of political cartoonists have left Hong Kong in recent months, with many citing concerns about artistic freedom in the city. Hong Kong Worker, vawongsir and Ah To, whose work was also published in Ming Pao, all announced their departures earlier this year.

Library content tightening

Hong Kong’s public libraries added rules to writing contests in October – including one targeting children – stating that entries shall not be contrary to national security interests.

New terms in the application forms for the 32rd Chinese Poetry Writing Competition, and for 4.23 World Book Day Competition, state that submissions must not breach Hong Kong laws including the national security legislation, and that in the case of a breach, the organiser will not be held legally responsible.

Both contests are organised by Hong Kong Public Libraries under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Declining rule of law index

Hong Kong’s ranking in the World Justice Project Rule of Law index was downgraded by three positions to 22nd, with a senior advisor at the research organisation saying that the implementation of the national security law may have contributed to the city’s decline. The list included 140 countries and jurisdictions.

The Hong Kong government criticised the downgrade, claiming it could indicate “a lack of an accurate and overall understanding of the real situation.” It also said Hong Kong ranked higher than “some western countries which often unreasonably criticise the rule of law and human rights situation” of the city, referring to the US.

Meanwhile international press group International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) also blamed the security law as the direct or indirect reason behind a massive wave of closure of media outlets in Hong Kong, such as Apple Daily, Stand News, Citizen News and Factwire. The IFJ urged the global community to continue its condemnation on the “media offensive” by the authorities.

Total arrests

As of October 27, a total of 231 people had been arrested for national security-related offences since the law came into force on June 30, 2020, according to figures provided by the Security Bureau. So far, 138 individuals and five companies have been charged, and 41 people have been convicted.

The figures cover both people arrested under the national security law and those held under a separate law covering sedition. The Security Bureau did not provide separate figures for sedition offences, despite having done so previously.

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In September, five Hong Kong speech therapists were convicted of and jailed for conspiring to publish a series of children’s books, which were said to have a “brainwashing” effect on young children and fuel anti-China sentiments. At least two are seeking to challenge their convictions. Some of the 47 democrats who have pleaded guilty to a subversion charge have voiced their preferences in their sentencing timeline, while defendants in numerous national security cases admitted to their charges.

HKFP continues its monthly roundup of developments.

As of September 16, 215 people have been arrested on suspicion of committing acts endangering national security, according to figures provided by the Security Bureau. The figures cover both people arrested under the national security law and those held under a separate law covering sedition. The Security Bureau did not provide separate figures for sedition offences, despite having done so previously.

Among those arrested, 128 individuals and five companies have been charged, while 34 have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.

Speech therapists jailed over ‘seditious’ books

Five Hong Kong speech therapists were convicted and jailed under the colonial-era sedition law for conspiring to publish three illustrated books about sheep and wolves, which a local court said amounted to “brainwashing” young readers with anti-China sentiment.

When handing down the verdict, District Judge Kwok Wai-kin said defendants Lorie Lai, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Fong Tsz-ho did not recognise China’s resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong, as the books they published implied the Chinese authorities were wolves and the Hong Kong chief executive was a wolf who “masqueraded as a sheep” and was instructed by the “Wolf-chairman.”

Fear, hatred, discontent and disaffection were “instilled” in the minds of children through the books’ publication, the judge said when he sentenced the five executive committee members of the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists to 19 months behind bars each.

“Once they have internalised this mindset… the seed of instability has actually been sown in the HKSAR,” Kwok said.

The group had already been detained for around a year before their case moved to trial. Taking into account the time they have spent in custody, HKFP has learned that they are expected to be released from jail on October 10.

Lai and Chan have filed applications for leave to appeal against their convictions.

Police warn against ‘unnecessary legal risks’

Hong Kong police told HKFP that people should avoid taking “unnecessary legal risks,” after an Instagram account shared a link to a website from which the three “seditious” books produced by the speech therapists could be downloaded in Cantonese, English and Mandarin.

The page was operated by a group of Hong Kong educators now based overseas, its Instagram biography suggested. The group, which said it had no links to any individuals or organisations Hong Kong, also created three new sheep-and-wolves books, which were released on Saturday, when the People’s Republic of China marked 73 years since its founding.

Asked if sharing and downloading electronic versions of the three existing picture books would be seen as breaking the law, police quoted the district judge as saying the volumes were seditious publications.

Anyone who prints, publishes, sells, distributes, displays or reproduces seditious publications would be in breach of the sedition law, the Force said. People who possessed seditious publications without lawful excuse are also guilty of an offence, police added.

17 of 47 democrats discuss sentencing

Seventeen pro-democracy figures who are among the 29 to have pleaded guilty to a subversion charge in the city’s largest national security case were brought before a three-judge panel last month to discuss arrangements for their mitigation and sentencing.

They included Au Nok-hin, Ben Chung, Fergus Leung, Jimmy Sham, Lau Chak-fung, Joshua Wong, Jeremy Tam, Kwok Ka-ki, Alvin Yeung, Wu Chi-wai, Eddie Chu, Sam Cheung, Wong ji-yuet, Andrew Wan, Ventus Lau, Henry Wong and Benny Tai.

The group has admitted to playing a role in an alleged conspiracy to commit subversion involving 47 well-known politicians and activists. The allegation revolves around unofficial primary polls held in July 2020 that aimed to help the opposition camp select candidates for an upcoming Legislative Council election in the hope of securing a majority in the legislature.

According to the prosecution, their intent, if successful, was to abuse their powers as lawmakers to block budget bills, paralyse government operations and ultimately force the chief executive to resign.

Some of the defendants told the High Court that they wanted to be sentenced as soon as possible, citing potential unfairness regarding length of jail term and “anxiety” experienced while in detention. Most of the 47 democrats have been held in custody for more than 18 months already.

But lead prosecutor Andy Lo said the proper arrangement would be to mete out penalties after the trial of their 18 co-defendants who have denied the charge. This would allow the court to better gauge the scope of the alleged conspiracy and the defendants’ individual culpability, the prosecution said.

Some democrats also said they would rather face punishment following the trial, while others indicated that they were “neutral” on the sentencing timeline.

A date for the trial is yet to be set.

Sedition upgraded to subversion

A Hong Kong combat coach who was originally prosecuted under the sedition law saw his charge upgraded to incitement to subversion. The case will also be transferred to the District Court, where the defendant could face up to seven years in prison.

Prosecutors applied to amend the charge against Denis Wong in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. The 59-year-old stands accused of planning to “build an army” to overthrow the government. He was initially charged with acting with seditious intent, which carries a maximum jail term of two years.

The new charge, subversion, is criminalised under the Beijing-imposed national security law, and can warrant up to 10 years of jail, but the District Court can only hand down a maximum sentence of seven years.

Wong and his assistant Iry Cheung were additionally charged with possessing offensive weapons with intent and possessing arms without a licence.

Radio host pleads guilty to sedition

Hong Kong internet radio host Edmund Wan, better known as “Giggs,” pleaded guilty to three counts of money-laundering involving HK$10.3 million and one count of sedition after he was said to have raised funds for protesters who fled to Taiwan.

He was said to have hosted 39 video and audio programmes between February 8 and November 21, 2020, which contained content that incited people to resist or overthrow the Chinese Communist Party, commit vigilantism against government officials and take part in civil disobedience acts to take down the Hong Kong government, among other calls.

His plea deal included agreeing to the prosecution’s request for the crowdfunding proceeds to be confiscated. The Department of Justice dropped two money-laundering charges against his assistant, Alice Lee.

Returning Valiant subversion charge

Choi Wing-kit, founder of self-proclaimed “revolutionary” political group Returning Valiant, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to incite others to subvert state power under the national security law and one charge of possessing offensive weapons at District Court last month.

The 21-year-old’s guilty plea came after his six co-defendants pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in August. He had asked for more time to review a revised case summary before entering his plea.

The other six were Yuen Ka-him, 17, Wan Chung-wai, 16, Leung Yung-wan, 17, Chris Chan, 26, Tseung Chau Ching-yu, 17 and Kwok Man-hei, 19.

The group was said to have promoted seditious messages and incited subversion by organising street booths and press conferences, as well as on social media, between January and May last year.

During mitigation, one of the defence lawyers said the defendants were ignorant of the national security law and the consequences of breaking it. The Beijing-imposed legislation had only been implemented for about six months when the group committed the offence, the counsel said, and schools had not yet started educating students about it.

The group were remanded into custody and will appear in court again on October 8.

Tiananmen vigil group to face trial in High Court

The national security case against the defunct organiser of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils and three of its leaders was transferred to the city’s High Court more than a year after the defendants were charged.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, and its of former leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho and Chow Hang-tung, were charged with incitement to subversion under the national security law.

The three prominent pro-democracy figures have entered not guilty pleas and are set to stand trial in the High Court, where the maximum penalty for incitement to subversion is 10 years behind bars.

They were arrested and charged in September last year. Ho was the only one granted bail recently, with a cash bail of HK$700,000 and a list of strict bail conditions.

Sedition arrest while mourning Queen

A 43-year-old Hong Kong man surnamed Pang was detained under the colonial-era sedition law while paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II outside the city’s British consulate. Police said he allegedly committed an act or acts with seditious intent at the site hours after hundreds of Hongkongers had waited in line to sign a book of condolences for Britain’s longest serving monarch.

Local media reported that a man played a harmonica on the pavement opposite the consulate building in Admiralty. The songs he played included “Glory to Hong Kong” – the unofficial anthem of the 2019 protests – and the British national anthem, local media footage showed.

Pang was released on police bail a day later and has to report back to the Force in late November.

National security police contact protest group

Hong Kong marked the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Saturday with official celebrations and members of pro-Beijing groups – some dressed in traditional Chinese clothing – waving the flags of China on the street.

However, unlike in the years before the national security law and Covid-19, the day was free from protests. In a first, the League of Social Democrats (LSD), one of Hong Kong’s last active pro-democracy parties, said it would not organise any activities.

Members of LSD told HKFP on Wednesday that they had been contacted by the National Security Department of the police and asked about their plans for the “sensitive date.”

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In August, a Hong Kong court ruled that reporting restrictions on committal proceedings must be removed upon the request of the accused, lifting the lid on national security cases involving activist Chow Hang-tung and the 47 democrats. Media tycoon Jimmy Lai is set to plead not guilty to a charge of conspiring to commit collusion with foreign forces. Former lawmaker and activist Albert Ho was granted bail. Four under 18s became the city’s first minors to be convicted under the national security law. Police arrested four civil servants for making or sharing “seditious” posts on social media.

HKFP continues its monthly roundup of developments.

Reporting restrictions lifted

Hong Kong’s High Court made a landmark ruling last month to lift reporting restrictions on committal proceedings for criminal cases, including national security cases, should the defendant request the limitations be removed.

The decision came after pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung, who is also a barrister, filed a judicial review in May against Principal Magistrate Peter Law’s decision in April to reject her request to lift reporting restrictions.

High Court judge Alex Lee wrote in his judgement that a magistrate must grant the application if there is one. Lee said even if magistrates had the discretion, they should not refuse to lift restrictions “unless such refusal is ‘strictly necessary’ in the interests of justice.”

The ruling means the details of the proceedings of Chow’s preliminary inquiry and the national security cases against the 47 democrats can now be reported.

See also: Explainer: What are reporting restrictions, and what would lifting them mean for future court cases?

Without restrictions being lifted, written and broadcast reports about committal proceedings – whereby a magistrate determines whether there is enough evidence for a case to be transferred to a higher court for trial or sentence – are limited to including only the name of the defendants, magistrates, and lawyers, the alleged offence, the court’s decision, whether legal aid was granted, and future court dates.

Jimmy Lai

Media mogul Jimmy Lai, who owned the defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is set to plead not guilty and stand trial in a national security case, while six other former executives are set to plead guilty.

The 74-year-old Lai faces four charges: two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign countries or external elements, one count of colluding with foreign powers, and one count of conspiracy to print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications.

Local media reported that the Judiciary ordered Lai’s trial to be conducted without a jury, breaking from a century-old tradition under the common law legal system.

The city’s first national security case against Tong Ying-kit was also tried without a jury. He had sought to challenge the arrangement, but the High Court said a defendant did not have a general or constitutional right to a jury trial. Tong was eventually sentenced to nine years in jail by a panel of three judges for inciting secession and engaging in terrorist activities.

The media tycoon also lost a legal bid to stop national security police from searching his phones, which he said contained protected journalistic materials. A judge said a national security search warrant allowed police to seize and inspect “specific evidence,” including journalistic material.

47 democrats

The high-profile national security trial of 47 pro-democracy activists, who face subversion charges for organising and taking part in an unofficial primary election back in 2020, will also proceed without a jury.

An order signed by Secretary for Justice Paul Lam stated “involvement of foreign elements” in the case as one of the reasons for a non-jury trial. It also cited the “personal safety of jurors and their family members” and a “risk of perverting the course of justice if the trial is conducted with a jury”.

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Among the 47 defendants, 29 are set to plead guilty, including legal scholar Benny Tai and prominent activist Joshua Wong. Eighteen others are set to plead not guilty. Their pleas were entered back in June, but were previously not reportable due to reporting restrictions on committal proceedings.

Hong Kong Alliance

In light of the ruling on reporting restrictions, the inquiry into the strength of the national security case against Chow Hang-tung will be held in open court, with the public allowed to attend and journalists allowed to report on proceedings.

Chow, the ex-vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – along with the group, and two of its former leaders Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho – has been charged under the Beijing-imposed national security law over alleged incitement to subversion.

Ho, a former lawmaker, was granted bail this month while facing that charge. He had been held in remand since May last year.

Chow, meanwhile, stands accused of not complying with a national security police request to submit information in another case, along with two more ex-committee members of the Alliance. The members and the group were branded as “foreign agents” and asked to provide information, including activities and finances.

The trial has progressed slowly, as the defence demanded the prosecution disclose some redacted case materials, including which foreign organisations or countries the Alliance was allegedly working for.

First conviction of minors

Six members of Hong Kong political group Returning Valiant pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to incite subversion. The case marked the first time that minors have been convicted under the national security law – with four of the defendants aged under 18. One remaining defendant is set to enter his plea next Friday.

The seven were accused of using street booths, press conferences and social media to spread seditious messages and incite others to subvert state power between January and May last year. The prosecution also alleged the group stressed the importance of an “armed uprising” during their news conferences or social media livestreams.

The six who pleaded guilty will be sentenced on September 9.

Seditious posts

At least four government employees were arrested in August over alleged seditious online posts.

Two were reportedly administrators of the Civil Servants Secrets Facebook page, which posted content – sometimes of a critical nature – relating to government policies. People could make submissions to reveal the internal operations of government departments or air grievances about the rules and regulations imposed on civil servants.

The pair were accused of publishing posts on the social media group “to disseminate seditious messages that promote feelings of ill-will and enmity between different classes of the population of Hong Kong,” a police statement read.

The arrests prompted other “secrets” pages to shut down, too. The city’s security chief Chris Tang later said it was fine for people to criticise the government if they did so to try and make the administration perform better. But if their intention was “to provoke hatred among others, causing people of different classes to point their fingers at each other, attack each other or even use violence, [they] might have breached the law,” he said.

Separately, authorities also apprehended two government workers for allegedly making anti-government posts online and sharing “seditious” posts advocating Hong Kong independence and violence on Facebook and discussion forum LIHKG. One was remanded in custody.

‘Hong Kong Parliament’

The Security Bureau said a group of overseas activists may have violated the national security law for launching a committee to form a “Hong Kong Parliament” in exile. Businessman and commentator Elmer Yuen, journalist Victor Ho, and ex-lawmaker-elect Baggio Leung were named and accused of “contravening the offence of subversion” by the bureau.

The group, based overseas, said it aimed to hold the first election of the parliament in late 2023. The parliament  “represents, solidifies and revives Hong Kong people’s rights of self-determination,” the group said.

Yuen’s daughter-in-law, pro-Beijing lawmaker Eunice Yung, took out a newspaper advertisement to disown Yuen, two days after the government’s accusation.

Film censorship

A film festival cancelled the screening of an award-winning short movie after censors demanded the removal of a scene depicting a protest site during the 2014 Umbrella Movement.

The shot, which lasted less than a second, “reconstructed the illegal occupation movement,” the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration told the film producers. The scene showed canopies and placards reading “Don’t forget the original intention.” It also showed a scroll partially flipped up by the wind with a yellow umbrella and the characters “I want,” an apparent allusion to banners hung around protest camps during the 2014 civil disobedience campaign that read “I want universal suffrage.”

The79-day-long Umbrella Movement was originally conceived as “Occupy Central.” Thousands occupied roads around the legislature and in two other key districts following a student sit-in. Leading figures of the largely peaceful movement were jailed in the years following the police clearance.

Total arrests

As of August 26, a total of 215 people had been arrested for national security-related offences since the law came into force on June 30, 2020, according to figures provided by the Security Bureau. So far, 128 individuals and five companies have been charged, and 17 people have been convicted.

The figures cover both people arrested under the national security law and those held under a separate law covering sedition. The Security Bureau did not provide separate figures for sedition offences, despite having done so previously.

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In July, Hong Kong’s last active pro-democracy protest group came under fire. Activists who had been in hiding for almost two years were arrested. Former leaders of a defunct pro-democracy group pleaded not guilty to charges under the national security law. An independent book fair was axed. A UN committee urged Hong Kong to scrap the national security law.

Attacks on League of Social Democrats

One of Hong Kong’s last active pro-democracy groups, the League of Social Democrats (LSD) came under fire from Beijing-backed media, which printed full-page attacks on them, accusing members of having a “guilty conscience.”

The attacks came around a week after the group said it was “forced to delete online posts that were allegedly violating the national security law,” adding that “the details cannot be disclosed.”

In an earlier interview with HKFP, members of the LSD said that legal risks were becoming harder to assess. But its chairwoman, Chan Po-ying said the LSD would continue to advocate for democracy and human rights.

“We don’t want there to be only one narrative in society, singing praise and papering over the cracks,” Chan told HKFP.

Dishevelled activists in hideouts rounded up

Four pro-democracy activists who have been in hiding for almost two years were arrested, including 21-year-old Tsang Chi-kin, who was shot by police during the 2019 protests and unrest. National security police took over the case, citing “potential national security risks.”

Authorities said the four fugitives were arrested in Sai Kung and that they had planned to leave Hong Kong. They had been living in hideouts for almost two years and displayed “poor mental health” when apprehended, the police said.

Police said the four had paid HK$400,000 to an unidentified group to secure passage out of the city. Two Hong Kong YouTubers later claimed to have given HK$1 million to help the fugitives pay for food and rent for the safehouses.

Student Politicism case

Four former leaders of the defunct pro-democracy group Student Politicism pleaded guilty to conspiring to incite subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

Ex-convenor Wong Yat-chin, ex-secretary general Chan Chi-sum, and former spokespersons Jessica Chu and Alice Wong were said to have set up street booths and spread messages about resisting the government.

The prosecution said that Wong Yat-chin “invited others to take part in ‘the resistance’ against those in power,” and told the public to remember “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” He also allegedly incite others to build a “Hong Kong nation” in his speeches.

The group was also accused of urging the public not to use the government’s contact-tracing LeaveHomeSafe app.

Speech therapists trial

Five speech therapists pleaded not guilty to inciting hatred by publishing children’s picture books which allegedly depicted Hongkongers as sheep and mainland Chinese as wolves.

Lorie Lai, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Fong Tsz-ho, ex-committee members of the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists, were accused of conspiring to print, publish, distribute and display three books between June 2020 and July last year with seditious intent. 

The children’s publications purportedly alluded to the 2019 protests and unrest, the detention of 12 Hong Kong fugitives by the mainland Chinese authorities, and a strike staged by Hong Kong medics at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak. 

The defendants were said to have “indoctrinated” readers with separatism, incited “anti-Chinese sentiment,” “degraded” lawful arrests and prosecution and “intensified” Hong Kong-China conflicts.

The prosecution said sedition was a “very serious offence” that was “like treason,” while the defence lawyers argued sedition should not be used to impose “political censorship.”

Independent book fair axed

An independent book fair was forced to cancel before its official launch, after organisers were accused by the venue’s owner of breaching the property lease. The violations included subletting the premises to other publishers and endangering visitors.

The Hongkongers’ Book Fair was set to feature independent publishers such as Hillway Press, which was known for publishing politically sensitive books and was rejected from taking part in this year’s Hong Kong Book Fair. The annual fair called in the police last year over exhibits that were thought to potentially breach the national security law.

UN rights committee: scrap NSL

The United Nations Human Rights Committee urged Hong Kong to scrap the national security law, citing the “overly broad interpretation” of its provisions and the subsequent violations of free expression in the city.

Over three days of virtual meetings, rights experts expressed concerns over issues such as the crackdown against press freedom and the decline in democratic representation in the Legislative Council under an overhauled “patriots-only” electoral system, which, like the security legislation, was imposed by Beijing.

The Hong Kong delegation, led by Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang, repeatedly said the law had restored stability and peace to the city. The authorities also did not address whether groups which made submissions to the committee could be punished under the national security law for their involvement in the sessions.

The Hong Kong government later slammed the “unsubstantiated criticism,” saying the UN panel should view the security law “in the proper context” with regard to the “background of the violent social unrests” in 2019.

As of July 22, a total of 208 people had been arrested over national security-related offences since the law came into force on June 30, 2020. So far, 127 individuals and five companies have been charged, and 13 people have been convicted.

The figures cover both people arrested under the national security law and those held under a separate law covering sedition. The Security Bureau did not provide separate figures for sedition offences, despite having done so previously. It was unclear whether there was a policy change. HKFP has reached out to seek an explanation.

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As at June 23, a total of 196 people had been arrested for alleged national security-related offences since the law came into force on June 30, 2020. So far, 124 individuals have been charged and five companies prosecuted.

The figures cover both people arrested under the NSL and those held under a separate law covering sedition. The Security Bureau did not provide separate figures for sedition offences, despite having done so previously.

National security police call in activist group volunteers ahead of Handover anniversary

The League of Social Democrats, one of Hong Kong’s last remaining active pro-democracy groups, announced that they would not hold any protest on the 25th anniversary of the city’s handover after some of its volunteers were summoned for meetings by the national security police.

The group’s former chairperson Avery Ng said that some LSD members, including himself, were under “constant surveillance” ahead of the anniversary.

Hospital staff union disbands

The Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA), founded in the wake of the 2019 unrest, announced it would disband on June 30, the second anniversary of the national security law. The union representing public hospital employees cited “pressure from all sides” and “white terror.”

Its former chairwoman Winnie Yu is among 47 pro-democracy figures who may face up to life in prison over an alleged conspiracy to commit subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

The HAEA became the latest civil society group to dissolve following the security legislation. Since 2021, at least 58 organisations -including unions, churches, media groups, and political parties – have folded.

Returning Valiant

Seven people who had ties to the pro-independence group “Returning Valiant” will face trial or sentencing in the High Court over an alleged conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, after they were committed by Principal Magistrate Peter Law last Tuesday.

Six of the defendants were secondary school students when they were charged under the national security law, with the youngest aged 15. They were all remanded in custody pending trial.

Student Union vote

Polytechnic University’s top student body voted down a proposal to dissolve in June, but decided to freeze millions of dollars worth of the group’s assets and indefinitely halt operations and recruitment.

The vote came after the “Red Brick Society,” formerly known as “PolyU Student Union” before the school cut ties with it in April, said a lawyer had made the recommendation to dissolve the organisation citing the security law.

Counter-terrorism hotline

Police launched a counter-terrorism hotline for people to report potential terrorist or related crimes. Rewards will be given to those whose tips lead to prosecutions.

The new hotline came after a national security hotline was launched following the implementation of the legislation two years ago.

Tiananmen commemorations

After two banned commemorations in the last two years, Hong Kong marked the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown on June 4 largely without public protests. Police made six arrests.

Hong Kong Alliance

The national security cases against the defunct organiser of the city’s annual Tiananmen vigils, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, continue.

The transfer of the incitement to subversion case against the defunct group, along with three of its former leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, and Chow Hang-tung, was delayed for another three months.

The court also rejected Chow’s application for further details from the prosecution in another case, in which she is accused of failing to comply with a national security data probe. The trial will begin next month.

Chow also filed an application to appeal her conviction and sentence over last year’s banned June 4th assembly. She was jailed for 15 months in January for inciting others to take part in last year’s commemoration, which was banned by the police citing Covid-19 health concerns.

47 Democrats

All but one of the 47 democrats accused of conspiracy to commit subversion saw their case transferred to Hong Kong’s High Court in early June. Many of the defendants have been remanded in prison since February last year.

The maximum penalty the group could face is life imprisonment.

‘Captain America 2.0’ appeal

Ma Chun-man, nicknamed “Captain America 2.0” for carrying a superhero shield during the 2019 protests, filed an application to appeal against his sentence under the national security law, claiming that the punishment was too severe.

Ma, the second person to be sentenced under the sweeping legislation, was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison last November after being convicted of inciting secession by District Court Judge Stanley Chan.

Press freedom

Fewer Hongkongers trust public broadcaster RTHK, according to a study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

RTHK’s former boss Patrick Li was appointed as the permanent secretary for security in Chief Executive John Lee’s administration. The public broadcaster underwent a series of overhauls, including cancellations of various shows, under Li’s tenure.

An October trial date was set for the sedition case against the defunct Stand News. Two former chief editors of the news outlet said they intend to plead not guilty, while the parent company of Stand News remains unrepresented in court.

The liquidators of Next Digital, the company which published Hong Kong’s defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, said they were investigating media reports that the Taiwanese edition of the tabloid had been sold without their knowledge.

Sedition

Seven people were arrested under the colonial-era sedition law ahead of the 25th anniversary of the city’s Handover to China’s rule. Four people who were brought to court were denied bail.

In other sedition cases, the trial of veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu began in June. Koo stands accused over a protest that was planned against the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Singer-activist Tommy Yuen, accused of committing an act or acts with seditious intention in connection to social media posts, appeared in court unrepresented after saying he was told to withdraw his legal aid application.

In June, Hong Kong also saw a legal dispute about whether the District Court has the jurisdiction to handle sedition cases. Barrister Steven Kwan argued in court that sedition charges should be tried in Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance given the gravity of the offence.

Government proposals

With a new administration, the Democratic Party urged the chief executive to rebuild relationships with the public, and in particular young people, by revoking the charges and sentences against those involved in the 2019 protests and unrest.

A new bill amendment that would block Hongkongers convicted of “endangering national security” from being registered as social workers was also scheduled to take effect in July. Tik Chi-yuen, the city’s only self-proclaimed non-pro-establishment lawmaker, said the proposal prompted concern in the sector.

The city’s Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office spent HK$31 million funding 79 studies into the 2019 protests but decided not to disclose the findings for fear of legal risks.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang also revealed in the legislature that a total of 129 Hong Kong civil servants and 535 other government workers had been sacked or resigned after failing to take a new oath of allegiance.

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In May, Hong Kong saw more high-profile activists arrested and lawyers probed by national security police. An online news outlet was ordered to remove content from its website. A woman was denied bail on national security grounds even though she does not face such a charge. And another political cartoonist announced his departure from Hong Kong, as the city approaches the second anniversary of the enactment of the national security law.

HKFP continues its monthly round-up of developments.

Arrests of high-profile pro-democracy activists

Ninety-year-old retired cardinal Joseph Zen was among five people arrested in relation to the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which aided protesters during the 2019 anti-extradition protests and unrest.

Zen, together with barrister Margaret Ng, singer-activist Denise Ho, scholar Hui Po-keung and jailed former lawmaker Cyd Ho, were accused of conspiring to collude with foreign powers. They were the trustees of the humanitarian fund, which ceased operation on October 31 last year.

The security law criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

In 2021, the fund investigated by police for suspected national security violations and ordered to hand over information about its operations and financial transactions. Local media reported at the time that the documents included bank account details, donor information and details of fund recipients.

The relief fund was one of the main support groups for protesters, offering legal assistance, funds for psychological counselling and medical treatment and emergency relief.

Rights groups have denounced the arrests. Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director Erwin van der Borght said the incident highlighted “how the vagueness of Hong Kong’s national security law can be weaponised to make politically motivated, or simply malicious, arrests.”

Human Rights Watch called the arrests “a shocking new low,” and “an ominous sign that its crackdown on Hong Kong is only going to escalate” under a new administration led by former security chief John Lee.

‘Professional misconduct’

Lawyers who worked with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund were also probed by national security police over alleged “misconduct” by some solicitors and barristers, although no further details were revealed.

Police said they made complaints to the Law Society of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Bar Association. The professional bodies later confirmed they had launched investigations into the allegations.

Law Society president Chan Chak-ming declined to confirm or refute media reports that the police accused some lawyers of receiving compensation from the fund despite taking protest-related cases on a pro bono basis. The Bar Association meanwhile said they were “not in position to respond or comment on the updates or details in the investigation before it is concluded.”

Passion Times

Security police demanded an online news outlet, which had ties with a defunct opposition group, to remove “sensitive” content from its website. The founder of Passion Times, Wong Yeung-tat said in a Facebook post that he received a notice from the National Security Department of the police asking for some “sensitive” content to be deleted.

Wong also founded Civic Passion, a political party with roots in the localist movement that was considered to be a more radical faction of the broader opposition camp. Wong quit the group and continued to run Passion Times independently, before the party disbanded last September, when its chairman Cheng Chung-tai was ousted from the legislature after being ruled not “patriotic” enough for public office.

Wong declined to elaborate what legislation was cited or say what the “sensitive” materials were when approached by HKFP. Local media later reported that the content was related to a competition that invited people to design a new “national flag” for Hong Kong.

Media reports cited sources as saying the Passion Times had organised a “Hong Kong national flag design competition” in May 2016 which attracted 63 designs. Some 2,000 people voted online and the winning design was later showcased during a “flag-raising ceremony” at a march on July 1 that year.

The competition was suspected to be a means of advocating independence, and keeping it on the website after the national security law was enacted in 2020 was “challenging the law,” according to the sources.

High bail threshold

The West Kowloon Magistracy adjourned the case of a martial arts coach who was accused of violating the colonial-era sedition law by inciting hatred against the government and violence on social media. Denis Wong, 59, was also accused of possessing offensive weapons.

Wong’s 62-year-old assistant, Iry Cheung, was accused of possessing offensive weapons. Magistrate Peter Law rejected Cheung’s bail application as he did not have sufficient grounds for believing that she would not continue to engage in acts endangering national security if it was granted.

Such reasoning has been common used by judges to deny bail applications by defendants involved in national security and sedition cases. However in this case, Cheung was not the one facing such charges.

Bail applications in national security cases are subject to particularly strict assessment. Judges consider not only the defendant’s risk of absconding or obstructing justice, but also whether there are sufficient grounds for believing they “will not continue to commit acts endangering national security.”

The same threshold now often applies to defendants facing sedition charges, after the Court of Final Appeal ruled last December that sedition also amounts to acts endangering national security.

No more June 4 masses

A major Hong Kong Catholic group said it will not hold masses to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown this year, citing fears over the Beijing-imposed national security law.

“Because frontline staff and some of the members of the Justice and Peace Commission of The Hong Kong Catholic Diocese are concerned about whether holding this event will be in breach of the implemented national security law, therefore [we] won’t hold a June 4th commemoration mass,” the Hong Kong Catholic Social Communications Office told HKFP.

Several Catholic churches in the city traditionally held masses on the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown to commemorate those who died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing on June 4, 1989. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died.

This year could be the first without any public activities in Hong Kong to mark the anniversary. Football pitches, where the annual candlelight vigil takes place, have been fully booked on June 4 or temporarily closed for maintenance.

The government has banned the annual candlelight vigil, which was organised by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, for the past two years, citing public health reasons amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Alliance disbanded last September, after three decades in Hong Kong.

Protest leaders and some citizens defied the ban and held up candles in 2020, resulting in the imprisonment of some activists. Last year, police cordoned off the park entirely to bar people from entering.

Exodus continues

Pro-democracy political cartoonist known as “vawongsir” announced his departure from Hong Kong on social media with a painting. He cited fears over the national security law.

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A post shared by vawongsir (@vawongsir)

The artist was also a visual arts and liberal studies teacher at a local secondary school. His contract was not renewed after he received an anonymous complaint about his drawings, many of which expressed sympathy for the protesters and accused the police of misconduct during the unrest of 2019. Wong was subsequently deregistered by the Education Bureau in April last year, citing professional misconduct.

The cartoonist said he “did not know where he stood on the list of being politically liquidated,” but had fears of potential detention in the future.

As of May 25, 186 persons have been arrested for committing acts and engaging in activities that endanger national security, according to the Security Bureau. Among them, 35 were arrested under the sedition offence of the Crimes Ordinance. Authorities said five companies were also charged for offences endangering national security.

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April 15 marked the second National Security Education Day in Hong Kong. The month also saw more blows to press freedom, with national security police arresting another journalist for allegedly publishing “seditious materials.” Press groups suspended awards, citing “red lines” and legal risks. HKFP continues its monthly round-up of developments.

Press freedom

Veteran journalist Allan Au was arrested by national security police for allegedly conspiring to publish seditious materials, under the city’s colonial-era law. His case was believed to be linked to that of media outlet Stand News, which shut down after seven people linked to the outlet were arrested and its newsroom raided last December.

The 54-year-old journalist worked as a senior producer at TVB News and as a radio host on RTHK, and was also a columnist for outlets including Stand News and Ming Pao.

International media watchdog Reporters without Borders said Au’s arrest showed “the government’s determination to put an end to press freedom in the territory.”

Chief Executive Carrie Lam declined to comment on Au’s arrest, saying freedom of the press and speech are protected under the Basic Law.

John Lee, the sole candidate in Hong Kong’s small-circle leadership race, said there was no need to “defend” press freedom “because it exists.” Lee also said enacting Article 23, the city’s own security law, would be a priority.

Lee resigned as chief secretary in early April to run for chief executive. The 64-year-old’s application was confirmed by the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, after receiving more than 780 nominations.

Press awards axed

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club axed its annual Human Rights Press Awards, citing “red lines” and legal risks. Stand News had been set to win nine accolades, including for its coverage of the Yuen Long mob attack in July 2019 and the final days of Apple Daily.

The cancellation has drawn criticism from within the industry and the club. The FCC saw eight members of its Press Freedom Committee resign while one person also quit the club’s main board.

The club’s president Keith Richburg later apologised to the awards judges, saying the suspension was “in the best interest” of the club and its staff. Richburg told HKFP he was “absolutely confident” the awards would continue, but likely “with new sponsors and from a new location.”

The Hong Kong Journalists Association suspended its annual Kam Yiu-yu Press Freedom Award, citing the pandemic and socio-political involvement. The HKJA is currently being investigated by the Registry of Trade Unions, which has ordered it to provide financial information and explain some of its social media posts.

Activists jailed

Pro-democracy activist “Fast Beat” Tam Tak-chi was sentenced to 40 months in jail and fined $5,000 for “uttering seditious words,” as well as joining and holding an unauthorised assembly.

The 50-year-old DJ was convicted of 11 charges in March, seven of them under the sedition law. He was accused of chanting the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” as well as making “baseless” accusations against the police, who he called “black cops.”

In a separate case, activist Max Chung was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to organising an unauthorised assembly to “reclaim” Yuen Long following the mob attack there in July 2019.

A university student was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to inciting secession under the Beijing-imposed national security law by running a pro-independence Telegram channel. Lui Sai-yu was accused of selling weapons and posting messages such as “Hong Kong independence [is] the only way out.” Lui was originally given a sentence discount for pleading guilty, but the judge overturned the initial punishment of three years and eight months and raised it to five years after the prosecution argued that the sentence should not fall below the minimum of five years for a national security offence.

In April more than 20 people were jailed for rioting during various anti-extradition protests in 2019. Thirteen people involved in a Sheung Wan protest in July 2019 were sentenced to up to four years in prison. Five people got up to four-and-a-half years, and three youngsters were sent to training centres for their involvement in a National Day protest in 2019.

Protesters convicted

Hong Kong courts also convicted more than a dozen anti-extradition protesters in April. Three people were found guilty of rioting outside the Central Government Offices in September 2019 but have not yet been sentenced.

The defence argued there was no surveillance camera footage to support the accusations but District Judge Stanley Chan accepted the testimony of police officers, adding the defendants wore dark-coloured clothing and carried protective gear.

Another District Court Judge, Josiah Lam, convicted 11 people of rioting at an anti-mask law protest in Wan Chai in October 2019, when protesters and police were involved in a violent clash and petrol bombs were hurled. Lam said the defendants were not bystanders and had “deliberately equipped themselves” to take part in the unlawful assembly. They are awaiting sentencing.

Leaving the city

More pro-democracy figures left Hong Kong, including prominent human rights lawyer Michael Vidler, senior pollster Chung Kim-wah and political cartoonist Ah To.

Vidler announced his law firm Vidler & Co. would cease operations in June after 19 years in the city. The company became associated with cases related to the 2019 protests and unrest.

Chung, who worked for the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, left for the UK after describing Hong Kong as a place where one may “no longer live normally and without intimidation.”

Ah To, who is known for his satirical cartoons about local politics, announced his departure on social media. He said he left because he “wanted to continue creating for Hong Kong.”

A number of politicians, academics and artists have fled Hong Kong since the implementation of the security law in June 2020, with most of them citing shrinking freedoms and fears of crossing “red lines.”

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In March Hong Kong saw two British judges resign from the city’s top court, citing the national security law and an erosion of political freedom. Local authorities issued warnings to a foreign organisation under the Beijing-enacted legislation for the very first time, and convicted an activist under the colonial-era sedition law. National security police arrested a pair for planning to “build an army,” while most court cases were put on hold owing to Covid-19.

HKFP continues its monthly round-up of security law developments amid the deadliest wave of Covid-19 since the pandemic began two years ago.

Two British judges resign

British judges Lord Robert Reed and Lord Patrick Hodge resigned from the highest court in Hong Kong on Wednesday, citing the national security law.

Lord Reed described the Hong Kong government as having “departed from values of political freedom,” saying that UK Supreme Court judges could not continue to sit in the city “without appearing to endorse” such an administration.

The pair had served as non-permanent judges on the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) under an agreement reached in 1997 between the judiciaries of the two sides. The Basic Law stipulates that the top court may invite judges from other common law jurisdictions to sit on the panel.

In January Chief Justice Andrew Cheung cited the presence of foreign judges as proof of confidence in the judicial system in Hong Kong. He expressed “regret” over the resignations on Wednesday evening, saying both judges made “valuable contributions” to the work of local courts.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam “vehemently refuted any unfounded allegations” that the resignations were related to the implementation of the national security law.

At present, the CFA has 10 overseas non-permanent judges. Four of them have so far confirmed that they would remain on the top court — Australian judges William Gummow, Anthony Murray Gleeson and Robert French, and former Canadian chief justice Beverley McLachlin.

Activist convicted under sedition law

Pro-democracy activist “Fast Beat” Tam Tak-chi was found guilty on March 2 under the colonial-era sedition law. He was convicted of 11 charges and cleared of two by Judge Stanley Chan at the District Court.

The 49-year-old had been remanded in custody since his arrest in September 2020, when he became the first person in Hong Kong to be charged under the Crimes Ordinance since the 1997 handover to China.

The legislation was last amended in the 1970s when Hong Kong was still a British colony. It is different from the Beijing-imposed national security law, which criminalises secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts.

Tam was set to be sentenced on March 31, but the hearing was adjourned after the judiciary announced that local courts and tribunals would only handle “emergency cases” amid the deadliest wave of Covid-19 infections since the pandemic hit Hong Kong two years ago.

Hong Kong Watch

Hong Kong’s Security Bureau in mid-March demanded that UK-based watchdog Hong Kong Watch shut down its website, citing potential violations of the national security law — making it the first overseas group targeted under the Beijing-imposed legislation.

The website was likely to constitute the offence of collusion with foreign forces, the authorities said in a letter dated March 10. They told the NGO’s co-founder Benedict Rogers that the website must be taken down within 72 hours, otherwise he could face a fine of HK$100,000 and one year’s imprisonment.

Rogers said the group would not comply and would not disband. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss criticised the move as an attempt to “silence those who stand up for human rights in Hong Kong.”

Since mid-February Hong Kong Watch’s website has not been accessible in Hong Kong without using a VPN.

Martial arts duo

A 59-year-old combat coach and his 62-year-old female assistant were arrested on March 20 for allegedly breaching the colonial-era sedition law by planning to “build an army.” The police national security unit seized weapons including crossbows, swords, bows, arrows and airguns during the operation.

The pair were charged with acting with seditious intent, possessing offensive weapons with intent and possessing arms without a licence. The alleged crimes were linked to online posts that were said to have incited others to use force to overturn the regime and practise martial arts “in preparation for a future revolution.”

They were denied bail pending trial.

Bail revoked

The former chairwoman of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance Winnie Yu was remanded in custody on March 8 after allegedly violating bail conditions. The 34-year-old is among 47 democrats charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under the national security law by organising and taking part in an unofficial legislative primary election in July 2020.

Following the revocation of Yu’s bail, only 13 of the defendants are currently on bail pending trial. Most of the remaining democrats have been detained for more than a year as the high-profile case awaits a trial date. Others are serving jail time for separate protest-related offences.

Their next court appearance is scheduled for April 28, when the magistrate is expected to continue handling matters linked to committing the case to the High Court, where the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.

Defunct union coalition raided

On the last day of March, four former leaders of a disbanded pro-democracy union were reportedly brought in for questioning by Hong Kong’s national security police after allegedly failing to supply information about its past activities. Police also searched premises linked to now-defunct Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions.

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In February, Hong Kong’s national security police made several arrests and charged people under a colonial-era anti-sedition law in lieu of the Beijing-imposed security legislation. It also marked one year since 47 pro-democracy figures were officially indicted for allegedly conspiring to commit subversion, though a trial date remains out of sight. HKFP continues its monthly round-up of security law developments as the city struggles to cope with the fifth and worst wave of Covid-19 infections.

Anti-sedition law arrests

Hong Kong police made numerous arrests in February over alleged crimes linked to sedition, an offence under the Crimes Ordinance which was last amended in the 1970s when the city was still British colonial rule.

Among those apprehended and charged under the newly-revived legislation last month was veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu, who was taken into police custody ahead of a planned demonstration outside Beijing’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong to protest China’s Winter Olympic Games.

The 75-year-old cancer-sufferer was originally arrested on suspicion of inciting subversion, an offence under the Beijing-imposed national security law. But he was later charged with attempting to commit a seditious act, with the city’s prosecutors alleging that he had brought contempt upon – and incited betrayal against – the Hong Kong and central governments.

Another activist rounded up under the anti-sedition law last month was singer-activist Tommy Yuen, whose social media posts were said to carry the intention of bringing hatred against the government and the administration of justice.

The posts in question – including “cursing” of judges and “vilifying” anti-epidemic policies – also allegedly aimed to excite Hong Kong residents to act illegally.

Two women in their early 20s were also prosecuted after they urged people not to get Covid-19 vaccines and to flout the city’s anti-epidemic rules. The pair were reported to be shopkeepers of a Taiwanese-style takeaway teashop known to be sympathetic to the those arrested over their involvement in the 2019 anti-extradition bill protests.

The arrests were carried out by the national security department of the Police Force, even though sedition charges are not part of the four offences criminalised by the Beijing-imposed national security law. The law criminalises secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism.

Sedition carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail upon a first conviction, whilst security law offences are punishable with up to life imprisonment.

The Court of Final Appeal ruled last December that offences under the anti-sedition law would be considered acts endangering national security. The landmark decision has since been used by prosecutors to urge courts to impose a stringent threshold when handling bail applications from sedition suspects.

Koo, Yuen and the two women all failed to convince the court that they would not continue to engage in acts endangering national security if bail was granted. They were all remanded into custody pending trial.

An HKFP database shows that the last time police pressed charges under the national security law was in September last year, when they indicted four former leaders of the now-disbanded Student Politicism group over an alleged conspiracy to commit subversion.

As of last Friday, 22 people have been arrested under section 10 of the Crimes Ordinance since the colonial-era legislation was invoked for the first time after the 1997 handover in September 2020.

It was used to indict activist and former vice-chairperson of People Power Tam Tak-chi over speech and slogans he chanted. He was found guilty on Wednesday of 11 charges – most were related to sedition, whilst others were offences under the Public Order Ordinance and the Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Gathering) Regulation.

CityU students’ union faces probe

The police national security department launched an investigation last month into a “parting ceremony” organised by the City University of Hong Kong students’ union, where participants were said to have written down pro-independence expressions.

The probe followed the university’s report to the police that some students congregated at the Kowloon Tong campus on February 14, saying they may have breached the Covid-19 social distancing rules.

On that day, the student body bid farewell to its office and other premises upon the request of the university, after it failed to submit more than 16 years of audited financial records before a two-week deadline.

Some union representatives painted phrases including “freedom of thought,” “[we will] not yield a single step” and “resist till the end” at an entrance of a shop they operated. Some students also left messages on a “democracy wall” for the union.

One year since 47 democrats charged

February 28 marked one year since 47 local pro-democracy figures were officially prosecuted under the national security law for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to commit subversion.

Despite numerous court hearings over the past year, the high-profile case surrounding an unofficial legislative primary election held in July 2020 has yet to see a trial date. Only 14 defendants are currently on bail pending trial and the remaining 33 are either in custody or serving jail time for other protest-related offences.

The court is in the process of committing the case to the High Court, where the maximum sentence is life imprisonment. A hearing scheduled for February 28 was delayed after a few defendants were absent owing to the Covid-19 outbreak in prisons.

The democrats will appear in court again on Friday.

Apple Daily and Stand News cases adjourned

A separate national security case involving media mogul Jimmy Lai and six former employees of the now-defunct Apple Daily and its parent company Next Digital was also deferred last month.

The group stand accused of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and requesting sanctions against Hong Kong and China. An additional charge over “seditious publications” – a crime under the colonial law – was slapped on the group last December.

Owing to the pandemic situation in prisons, all seven defendants failed to show up in-person and instead sent legal representatives to attend a hearing on February 24. They will return to court next Thursday.

In another case involving acts endangering national security allegedly perpetrated by journalists, two former employees of the now-defunct online media outlet Stand News and its parent company saw their hearing postponed to April.

Ex-editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, former acting chief editor Patrick Lam and Stand News’ owner Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited were charged with conspiracy to publish seditious publications under the Crimes Ordinance – a charge that dates back to the city’s colonial era.

Similar to other remanded defendants, Chung and Lam were unable to attend the hearing last Friday following a pandemic lockdown in prisons imposed by the Correctional Services Department.

Chung and Lam’s counsels agreed to the prosecution’s proposal to adjourn the case to April 13. In the meantime, the Department of Justice is set to prepare documents for moving the case to the District Court, where convicts could face up to seven years behind bars.

New police national security dep’t head

The Hong Kong Police Force revealed in February that assistant commissioner of police Andrew Kan was promoted last December as the Director of National Security. Kan replaced Frederic Choi who was put on leave last March after he was found in an unlicensed massage parlour. Choi was later transferred to lead the Personnel and Training Department.

National security training for civil servants

Newly recruited civil servants in Hong Kong will have to undergo national security training to complete their three-year probation, the Civil Service Bureau announced on February 9.

In a move to “enhance civil servants’ understanding of the nation’s development and the SAR’s constitutional order,” current government employees will also be required to undertake such training as a prerequisite for promotions.

The national security law will be incorporated into the Basic Law test, which is part of the government recruitment process.

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In January, Hong Kong witnessed the closure of another independent media outlet, and the government requested information from two unions. Several national security cases faced adjournments, and the city’s leader said that more national security crimes will be outlawed. HKFP continues its monthly roundup of developments as the new year begins.

Citizen News folds

On the second day of 2022, Hong Kong saw the closure of another independent media outlet – Citizen News. It became the third newsroom to shut down within six months. The announcement, citing “the worsening of media environment,” was made following the newsroom raid and arrests of top editors at the now-defunct Stand News.

Meanwhile, following the prosecution of two ex-Stand News chief editors under the colonial-era sedition law, barrister and former lawmaker Margaret Ng – who was among those arrested – asked the High Court to bar the police from reading and using legally privileged materials seized during her arrest.

Hong Kong Alliance

Chow Hang-tung, barrister and former vice-chair of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was sentenced to 15 months in jail in the first week of January for inciting others to take part in last year’s banned vigil in commemoration of the Tiananmen crackdown.

The 37-year-old is currently facing two national security charges after she was accused of inciting subversion and refusing a national security police data request. The court will discuss the possibility of a government body representing the Alliance during the upcoming national security law trial.

47 Democrats

A year has passed since over 50 pro-democracy figures were arrested under the national security law after they took part in a primary election for the then-postponed Legislative Council election.

To date, 47 of them have been prosecuted and over 30 have been remanded in custody since February last year. Owen Chow saw his bail revoked after a magistrate ruled that he had breached bail terms by publishing speech that could be seen as endangering national security.

The city also saw another marathon hearing after 23 of the 47 charged spent close to 12 hours in court with some reportedly given only biscuits for dinner.

Singers banished

Music from ten Cantopop groups and singers were banned from the airwaves, local media reported, as RTHK banished artists including Denise Ho, Charmaine Fong, Tat Ming Pair and Dear Jane.

Hong Kong 12

Kok Tsz-lun, one of the 12 Hong Kong democracy activists who was detained in mainland China, will plead guilty to rioting. The 19-year-old was one of 12 Hongkongers caught by Chinese marine police in August 2020 when fleeing Hong Kong for Taiwan by boat. A mainland Chinese court sentenced Kok and nine others to between seven months and three years in jail.

Meanwhile, another one of the 12, Andy Li, will spend at least five more months in custody pending sentencing, after the case was adjourned. Proceedings were postponed to wait for their co-defendant – pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai – to be committed to the High Court for trial over an alleged conspiracy to call for sanctions against Hong Kong and China.

Withdrawal of legal challenge

Tong Ying-kit, the first person convicted under the national security law, for inciting secession and committing terrorist acts, withdrew his appeal against his conviction and nine-year sentence.

Also, three former leaders of the now-defunct Student Politicism charged under the Beijing-imposed national security law will spend another month in custody, after their case was adjourned allow more time for the defence to go through documents presented by the prosecution.

Tiananmen tribute covered up

Workers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) covered up a segment of a bridge dedicated to the Tiananmen dead on Saturday morning, weeks after the school’s removal of a statue commemorating the deadly crackdown attracted international condemnation. HKU claimed the move was a “maintenance” operation.

The 33-year-old dedication to the 1989 crackdown read: “Souls of martyrs shall forever linger despite the brutal massacre; Spark of democracy shall forever glow for the demise of evils.”

Unions probe

During the first month of 2022, two groups in Hong Kong faced probes from the Registry of Trade Unions.

The Hong Kong White Collar (Administration and Clerical) Connect Union received a mailed inquiry from the Registry of Trade Unions on December 28 last year, and defended its actions and comments made in opposition to the national security law in its reply in January.

The city’s largest journalists’ group, Hong Kong Journalists Association, was also asked by the registry to provide answers how certain events, including movie screenings and book launches. they held were relevant to their objectives.

More national security offences

The city’s first “patriots-only” legislature convened for the first time in January, with Chief Executive Carrie Lam saying that Hong Kong will outlaw a host of new national security crimes in addition to those listed in the national security legislation.

Meanwhile, Checkley Sin, who became the first person to announce his intention to run in Hong Kong’s small-circle chief executive election, said that he would finish national security legislation for Article 23 under the Basic Law within one year.

And as the city heads into Lunar New Year amid the fifth wave of Covid-19 infections, the government said that discussion of the city’s Covid strategy would not violate the national security law.

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Hong Kong saw its first “patriots-only” legislative race in December following the implementation of the national security law, which recorded a historic-low voter turnout. And another pro-democracy media outlet folded following a national security police raid, as Tiananmen Massacre monuments were purged from universities. HKFP continues its monthly roundup of developments as the city heads into the new year.

Press freedom ‘in free fall’

The latest report from Reporters Without Borders’ on China, published in early December, said that press freedom in Hong Kong was in “free fall,” and that the Beijing-imposed national security law as “a crackdown on independent media” in the city.

The month had begun with media tycoon Jimmy Lai – currently behind bars – and his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper winning the Golden Pen of Freedom award from the World Association of News Publishers.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang wrote a letter threatening the Wall Street Journal over an editorial it published about Hong Kong’s first “patriots-only” legislative race, saying that the article contained “factual inaccuracies” and “baseless assumptions.”

After Christmas, the city also saw another newsroom raided as over 200 national security police officers searched the offices of non-profit outlet Stand News and arrested six former directors and staff members, as well as a former journalist from the now-defunct Apple Daily, for allegedly publishing seditious material.

Stand News, founded in December 2014 with a pro-democracy slant, announced that it was ceasing operations hours after the police raid and arrests, and all content, including its website and YouTube channel, were deleted that evening. Its two former chief editors were formally charged the next day and both were denied bail by a national security judge.

The seven-year-old newsroom became the second media outlet to be charged under the colonial-era anti-sedition law after Apple Daily folded in June.

Just one day before authorities raided Stand News, Lai and six former staff members of Next Digital and Apple Daily charged under the national security law, were told that they will face an additional charge under the anti-sedition legislation, which was last amended in the 1970s. The High Court also ordered that the parent company must be wound up.

Tiananmen Massacre monument purge

Three Hong Kong universities, including the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Lingnan University, tore down Tiananmen Massacre monuments from their campuses within a 48-hour period before Christmas.

The removals – carried out whilst students were on break – came just after the sentencing of eight pro-democracy figures, including former leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, over last year’s banned Tiananmen Massacre vigil.

Lai, along with the former vice-chair of the Alliance Chow Hang-tung, and activist Gwyneth Ho, were convicted of participating or inciting others to take part in the banned rally. The trio, along with five other democrats who pleaded guilty, including former chair of the Alliance Lee Cheuk-yan, received jail sentences ranging from four months and two weeks to 14 months.

Simon Leung, a former standing committee member of the Alliance who was also jailed over the 2020 banned vigil, also pleaded guilty to refusing a national security police data request, and was handed a three-month jail prison term.

Court decisions

The month of December also saw the approval of bail applications from two defendants pending national security trials.

A 16-year-old boy charged with conspiracy to incite subversion was granted bail after close to three months of custody. However, the student faced a long list of bail conditions, including not sharing, commenting on, or “liking” social media posts or otherwise expressing any opinion related to politics and current affairs.

Wong Ji-yuet, who was the former spokesperson for the disbanded student activist group Demosisto and one of the 47 democrats accused of conspiring to commit subversion, was granted bail on winter solstice.

Aside from bail decisions, the city’s top court also confirmed that the stricter standard for granting bail to national security suspects also applied to those charged under other laws, if the case involves acts endangering national security.

The confirmation came after the Court of Final Appeal rejected an application to challenge a lower court’s bail refusal to a speech therapist, who was accused of publishing seditious children’s books about sheep.

China hails election ‘success’

Following Hong Kong’s first “patriots-only” legislative race with a historic-low turnout and only one self-proclaimed non-pro-establishment candidate elected, China claimed credit for developing democracy in the city in a white paper published hours after polls closed.

The document also said the overhauled electoral system provided “advantageous conditions” for the ultimate goal of implementing universal suffrage, and that Hong Kong had no democracy under British colonial rule which ended in 1997. It also claimed colonial authorities had “implemented highly suppressive policies for a long period, closely controlling news publications, and clamping down on freedom of speech.”

Ahead of the race, the chairperson of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy party, Lo Kin-hei of the Democratic Party, came under fierce attack from the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper. It accused him of blocking members from standing in Sunday’s “patriots only” election and urged party members to “clean its house.”

The city’s security chief Chris Tang also hit out at former lawmaker and self-exiled activist Nathan Law for accepting an invitation to speak at the Summit for Democracy in the US. Tang accused the 28-year-old of violating “the Elections Ordinance, and possibly even the national security law” for allegedly inciting voters to ignore the Legislative Council election.

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