Two veteran Hong Kong pro‑democracy activists were found guilty of incitement to subversion, exposing the reach of Beijing’s national security law and setting up potential sentences of up to ten years in a high‑profile court ruling that follows years of vigil bans.
Lee Cheuk‑yan, 69, former lawmaker, and Chow Hang‑tung, 41, barrister who self‑represented, led the now‑defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the annual Tiananmen vigil. The trial began in January, lasted 24 days, and a third defendant, former lawmaker Albert Ho, pleaded guilty earlier.
The convictions underscore the tightening of civil‑society space in Hong Kong, effectively ending public commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and signalling to businesses and investors the heightened legal risk for political expression under the security regime.
Chinese authorities have labelled the Alliance a “toxic tumour”, while human‑rights groups portray it as a disbanded pro‑democracy organisation; the divergent terminology reflects a fundamental split over whether the group was a legitimate civil‑society actor or a destabilising force.