Court Convicts 2 Ex-Organizers Of Tiananmen Vigils In Hong Kong For Inciting Subversion

Government-approved judges in Hong Kong convicted Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, of inciting subversion under the 2020 national security law. Both had pleaded not guilty and face up to 10 years in prison; the alliance itself was also found guilty.

The judges ruled that the alliance's slogan 'end one-party dictatorship' meant overthrowing the Communist Party's constitutional leadership role, not calling for a return to multiparty cooperation, and that persisting with the phrase after the security law took effect qualified as unlawful means. Lee had told the court the call was about moving toward democracy, not ending party rule outright.

Observers, including a Georgetown legal scholar, said the verdict shows Hong Kong's courts now mirror mainland China's use of subversion charges against activists and lawyers. The city's once-massive annual Tiananmen vigil, which drew tens of thousands before being banned during the pandemic, was for decades the only large public commemoration of the 1989 crackdown allowed anywhere under Chinese rule.

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