Hong Kong activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung have been convicted of “incitement to subversion” under Beijing’s 2020 national security law, facing up to 10 years in prison. As former leaders of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, the pair organized the city’s annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The court ruled that the group’s slogan demanding an “end to one-party rule” was an illegal attempt to stir hostility against the Chinese Communist Party, rejecting the defense’s argument that they were simply exercising their freedom of speech.
Despite being imprisoned since 2021, the activists remain defiant; Chow, who represented herself in court, argued that the national security law itself was on trial and recently smuggled out a letter urging international leaders to take a stronger stance against China’s attempts to erase history.
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Hong Kong activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung have been convicted of “incitement to subversion” under Beijing’s 2020 national security law, facing up to 10 years in prison. As former leaders of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, the pair organized the city’s annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The court ruled that the group’s slogan demanding an “end to one-party rule” was an illegal attempt to stir hostility against the Chinese Communist Party, rejecting the defense’s argument that they were simply exercising their freedom of speech.
Despite being imprisoned since 2021, the activists remain defiant; Chow, who represented herself in court, argued that the national security law itself was on trial and recently smuggled out a letter urging international leaders to take a stronger stance against China’s attempts to erase history.