Explainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 67

2026-02-08 - 01:07

In the first month of 2026, the long-awaited national security trial of Tiananmen vigil activists and their historic group began. For the first time in Hong Kong’s history, the court will examine whether calls to end one-party rule are illegal. Fourth from right: Activists Albert Ho, Chow Hang-tung, and Lee Cheuk-yan at the Tiananmen vigil in Victoria Park on June 4, 2018. Photo: Catherine Lai/HKFP. Meanwhile, in another landmark national security trial, pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai and eight co-defendants completed their mitigation pleas. Trial of Tiananmen vigil group begins On January 22, the long-delayed national security trial of three Tiananmen vigil organisers and their group began. The activists – Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung, and Albert Ho – as well as the disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, stand accused of inciting subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law. Former pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Ho is taken away by national security police from his home on March 21, 2023. Photo: Lea Mok/HKFP. Lee, 68, and Chow, 40, pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars, while Ho, 74, pleaded guilty. Senior Counsel Priscilia Lam, representing the Alliance, also pleaded not guilty on behalf of the group. Three designated national security judges are presiding over the trial, which is expected to last for 75 working days. On the first day of trial, the prosecution told the court that the Alliance had listed “end one-party rule” as one of its five “goals” since its establishment and had advocated it for years. “There is no lawful means to end the leadership of the CCP,” Ned Lai, a deputy director of public prosecutions, said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. Chow Hang-tung. Photo: Candice Chau/HKFP. The prosecution argued on January 27 that the three activists had sought the end of the CCP’s rule in the name of “so-called democracy” and said it would seek to apply the co-conspirator rule – a legal principle allowing statements by one conspirator to be used against others. On January 29, as the court heard recordings of years-old speeches by Chow and Lee Cheuk-yan, Judge Alex Lee commented that the transcripts prepared by the prosecution contained “many errors.” The following day, on January 30, the prosecution played more videos, including a clip showing the pair and other Alliance members shouting: “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” a slogan widely adopted by the pro-democracy camp during the 2019 protests and unrest. Lee Cheuk-yan. File photo: Supplied. Judge Lee questioned the relevance of the remarks about the protests six years ago. “I cannot see how the anti-extradition protests are relevant to this case,” he said. “Is this a good use of the court’s time?” In another video, Ho was shown criticising the national security law. Judge Lee again stopped the video, saying that the activists were not being prosecuted for opposing the security law. Jimmy Lai’s mitigation hearing The mitigation hearing for Lai and eight co-defendants began on January 12 – about a month after the Apple Daily founder was convicted of subversion and collusion charges. The other eight defendants include six former staff members of Apple Daily and its parent company Next Digital, as well as an activist and a paralegal. The mitigation arguments of Lai’s lawyer Robert Pang mainly revolved around the tycoon’s health condition and his “advanced years.” Pang listed the ailments that Lai, 78, suffers from, including hypertension, diabetes, cataracts and venous occlusion – a blockage of a vein in the eye. The barrister also brought up Lai’s age, saying: “Every day that he spends in prison would bring him that much closer to the end of his life.” Jimmy Lai in 2020. Photo: HKFP. The judges disagreed with Pang’s argument that Lai’s prison sentence “is harsher” than others due to his solitary confinement. Judge Esther Toh said that Lai’s solitary confinement was “voluntary,” while Judge Alex Lee said that “he can always end it if he chooses to.” During the mitigation trial, two co-defendants, activist Andy Li and paralegal Chan Tsz-wah, who had pleaded guilty to collusion charges, asked for a 50 per cent sentence reduction. The other six defendants – former Next Digital CEO Cheung Kim-hung; former associate publisher Chan Pui-man; former editor-in-chief Ryan Law; former executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung; Fung Wai-kong, former editor-in-chief of the paper’s English news section; and former editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee – either asked for sentence reductions or lower sentencing bands. As the mitigation hearing came to a close on January 13, Toh said that Lai and eight co-defendants would be sentenced “as soon as practicable.” She did not give a date for sentencing, saying that she and fellow judges, Alex Lee and Susana Maria D’Almada Remedios, would need time to analyse the mitigation submissions and consider legal arguments regarding the Beijing-imposed national security law’s sentencing mechanisms. ID registration to enter courtroom Court watchers queueing to observe Lai’s mitigation hearing told HKFP that they were required to register their ID cards with the police before entering the courtroom. Police and court-watchers gather outside West Kowloon Law Courts on Monday, January 12, ahead of the mitigation hearing for media tycoon Jimmy Lai and eight other defendants. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The registration system, which appeared to be the first of its kind, was implemented on January 12 outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building, where the mitigation hearing for Lai was held. Police officers seated in a tent outside the courthouse could be seen asking members of the public queuing to enter the courtroom to hand over their ID cards for registration. The registration arrangement was not implemented at Lai’s verdict last month, or in other national security trials that drew long queues. Top judge denounces calls to free Lai Hong Kong’s top judge criticised calls to release Lai, saying that such demands “strike at the very heart of the rule of law.” Chief Justice Andrew Cheung speaks at the Ceremonial Opening of Legal Year 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Addressing the ceremonial opening of the legal year on January 19, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung defended the integrity of the city’s courts against wide-ranging criticism over the conviction of Lai, founder of the defunct Apple Daily newspaper, during his high-profile national security case. “Few court decisions please everyone. Rather, the strength of our justice system lies in its adherence to the law and its openness to scrutiny,” Cheung told a room packed with officials, judges, and legal professionals. He also said Hong Kong’s rule of law is “far more robust and enduring than the outcome of any single case,” raising concern about what he said were “simplistic assertion[s] that the rule of law is dead.” Hong Kong gov’t slams European Parliament Days later, on January 22, Hong Kong authorities slammed the European Parliament’s calls for sanctions against Chief Executive John Lee and other officials following Lai’s guilty verdict. The Hong Kong government said that it “vehemently opposed” the European Parliament’s resolution on “human rights violations” in Hong Kong and strongly condemned what it called “despicable political manipulation.” 4 more democrats released A total of four prominent activists convicted and sentenced in the “47 democrats” national security case completed their jail terms and returned home in January. Former lawmaker Eddie Chu left prison on January 15, while pro-democracy activist Lester Shum was released on January 26, followed by ex-district councillors Fergus Leung and Sam Cheung the next day. Almost a week after his release, Chu shared a glimpse of his life behind bars in his first public comment. In a Chinese-language Patreon post on January 21, he thanked his mother, wife, and daughter for visiting him over the years, which he said helped him endure his time behind bars. Eddie Chu. Photo: Holmes Chan/HKFP. He also thanked “countless friends” who had written to him while he was in custody and apologised for not having replied to all of them individually. He wrote that he was in good health after serving four years and five months in prison. “My body is OK, and my eye condition has received proper treatment,” he said. Chu was diagnosed with a retinal tear in his right eye in June 2021, roughly four months after he was first remanded in custody. “My persistent insomnia problem while in prison has significantly improved just three days after my release,” he added. To date, 18 of the 45 activists sentenced in the high-profile case have been released from jail, while 27 remain behind bars. ‘Seditious’ social media post A 61-year-old man was charged under the city’s homegrown security law for repeatedly sharing Facebook posts that were deemed seditious. Chong Wai-man was brought to the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on January 8 to face one count of “knowingly publishing publications that had a seditious intention.” He was remanded into custody pending his next court appearance on March 4. Political commentator’s case transferred to District Court A Hong Kong magistrate decided to transfer the case of a 71-year-old political commentator charged with disclosing details of a national security investigation to the District Court, where the defendant could face up to seven years’ imprisonment if convicted. Wong Kwok-ngon, also known by his pen name Wong On-yin, appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on January 20 without a lawyer. Wong Kwok-ngon in a YouTube video posted on December 2, 2026. Screenshot: On8 Channel – 王岸然頻道, via YouTube. Wong, formerly a deputy convenor of the disbanded Civil Human Rights Front and a writer for Apple Daily, was arrested on December 6 for allegedly divulging details of enquiries made by police during a national security investigation in a YouTube video. The offence of divulging information related to a national security investigation falls under the homegrown security law known as Article 23. Wong is the first to be charged under the new law. The commentator was also charged with sedition over videos posted on YouTube between January 3 and December 6 last year, including ones about the deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po in late November. The prosecution alleged that Wong made the clips with the intention of inciting hatred against the central government and the city’s authorities. Victor So, a hand-picked national security judge, adjourned the case to February 23 for the prosecution to prepare documents for transferring the case from the magistrates’ court to the District Court. The District Court can hand down jail terms of up to seven years, while sentences at the magistracy are generally limited to two years. The defendant was remanded into custody after his bail application was denied by the magistrate. Security chief warns of ‘soft resistance’ over Tai Po fire Secretary for Security Chris Tang warned of people engaging in “soft resistance” over the Wang Fuk Court blaze, saying they had attempted to spread “fake news.” “Now that we have laws in place, they might be afraid of [committing] officially illegal acts,” Tang told LegCo’s Panel on Security on January 30. He was referring to the city’s national security legislation: both the Beijing-imposed national security law and the locally enacted Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, also known as Article 23. “So they may think that they can skirt the law, that they’ll be fine if they spread hatred. But these are still all illegal acts,” he said without elaborating. Secretary for Security Chris Tang announces the beginning of the public consultation period for Hong Kong’s homegrown security law, Article 23, on January 30, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Tang also said that some people had committed “soft resistance” by making false claims about the Wang Fuk Court fire and the relief efforts. “Some people said that 6,000 riot police were prepared to crack down on survivors, firefighters and medics had nothing to eat. They also said that care teams had stolen supplies which the survivors could then no longer use,” he said, without elaborating where the claims originated from. “This is all fake news, with the sole intent of inciting hatred and endangering the security of Hong Kong and the country,” he said. It was the second time Tang issued a warning related to the blaze, which killed 168 people – the city’s deadliest in nearly eight decades. The security minister said on December 1 – days after the fire – that some “ill-intentioned individuals” were taking advantage of the tragedy to incite hatred against the government by spreading false information. Courts handling dozens of 2019 protest cases More than six years after massive demonstrations rocked Hong Kong, the Judiciary is still processing dozens of court cases related to the 2019 protests and unrest. In its annual report for the 2025 legal year, published on January 19, the Judiciary said it would continue to give priority “to complex cases arising from the 2019 civil disorder and to national security matters,” with around 100 remaining. The Judiciary. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP. Around 70 cases relating to the 2019 protests and unrest, and about 30 national security-related cases, are still under way, according to the report. Most are scheduled for trial in 2026. The Judiciary said there were “heavy caseloads and a significant number of complex civil and criminal cases requiring long trials” last year, but that the number of cases concluded was still comparable to that in 2024. Prosecution and arrest figures As of December 1, a total of 365 people had been arrested for “cases involving suspected acts or activities that endanger national security” since Beijing’s national security law came into effect, according to the Security Bureau. That figure includes those arrested under Article 23. Of the 204 people and five companies that have so far been charged, 174 people and one company have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing. In total, 96 people and four companies have been charged under Beijing’s national security law, with 77 persons convicted. 11 people have been charged under Article 23, seven of whom have been convicted.