Explainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 71

The landmark trial of Tiananmen vigil activists neared its conclusion in May, with both defendants and prosecutors delivering their closing submissions. Tiananmen crackdown vigil on June 4, 2019. Photo: Todd R. Darling/HKFP. The government allocated more money to the national security fund and lashed out at Reporters Without Borders (RSF) after the NGO once again placed Hong Kong low on its annual press freedom index. Trial of Tiananmen vigil activists The national security trial of Tiananmen vigil activists Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan heard closing arguments from the defendants and the prosecution. Lee and Chow were leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. Lee’s defence lawyer, Erik Shum, spoke before a three-judge panel on May 18, urging the court not to merely “pay lip service” to human rights protections. He argued that calls to “end one-party rule” in China should be considered legitimate political expression. Lee, Chow, and the Alliance are facing a charge of “inciting subversion,” an offence under the Beijing-imposed national security law, over the group’s calls to end one-party rule in China during decades of candlelight vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars. The 2018 candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing. File photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP. The Alliance had never proposed an “action plan” to mobilise supporters to topple the CCP, the lawyer said. “In the past 30 years, there has been no evidence showing that any person acted under the Alliance’s specific instruction,” Shum said in Cantonese. In his closing submission, prosecutor Ned Lai argued the Alliance’s calls had exceeded the legitimate boundary of freedom of expression as the defendants intended to stoke hatred against Beijing. “We say that their behaviour had crossed the line,” he said in Cantonese. “Freedom is not absolute.” Chow, a barrister who represents herself in the trial, delivered her closing arguments on May 19. She urged the court to safeguard the “dignity and bottom line of the law” and warned the judges not to become “accomplices” in an alleged government crackdown on free speech. Chow said the crux of the case was whether the law protects the “perpetual rule” of the CCP or the rights of people to advocate democracy. “Ending one-party rule means putting an end to the status quo, in which those in power are not bound by the law,” she said in Cantonese. Barrister Erik Shum. Photo: Erik Shum’s Chambers. Barrister Priscilia Lam. Photo: Plowman Chambers. Senior counsel Priscilia Lam, representing the Alliance, argued the prosecution had not been able to present evidence of the group’s alleged incitement to subversion. “What did the Alliance do to incite people to subvert state power?” Lam said in Cantonese. “I have heard nothing on this after sitting here for so long.” The Alliance disbanded in 2021 after authorities banned the vigil for two years, citing Covid-19 restrictions, and arrested its leadership on national security allegations. Chow and Lee have been behind bars since September 2021. Another defendant, former lawmaker Albert Ho, pleaded guilty when the trial opened in January. The three-judge panel said they hope to deliver a verdict in “mid or late July.” Gov’t reacts to UK trial conviction The Hong Kong government denied any link to a high-profile UK court case after its trade officer was convicted of spying on overseas activists. From left: Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) official Bill Yuen and former UK Border Force officer Peter Wai. Photos: Metropolitan Police. “From the outset, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has been clearly stating that the allegations in this case are absolutely not related to the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London (London ETO), nor are we party to the case,” a government statement sent to the media on May 8. The statement was issued a day after Bill Yuen, an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, and former UK Border Force official Peter Wai were found guilty under Britain’s national security laws of assisting a foreign intelligence service. Yuen and Wai – both British-Chinese dual nationals – were accused of spying on Hong Kong pro-democracy activists living in Britain. Among those the pair were said to have surveilled was Nathan Law, who is wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police with a bounty of HK$1,000,000. Wanted activist arrested in Thailand Hong Kong authorities declined to comment on reports that an activist wanted by the city’s national security police could face deportation to China after being arrested in Thailand for allegedly overstaying her visa. Zhang Xinyan. Screenshot: Hong Kong Parliament, via YouTube. Re