Hong Kong activists convicted over Tiananmen vigil under security law

Two prominent Hong Kong activists who helped organise annual vigils remembering the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown have been found guilty of inciting others to subvert state power under the city’s national security law.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were convicted on Friday after a trial that has drawn criticism from international rights organisations. They face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, with sentencing expected at a later date.

A third defendant, former lawmaker and democracy activist Albert Ho, 74, pleaded guilty to the charge in January.

Prosecutors accused Lee and Chow of encouraging others to organise, plan or participate in activities intended to undermine state power. Chow argued during the trial that the legislation itself was effectively being tested through the case.

Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils banned

For decades, Hong Kong was one of the few places under Chinese sovereignty where large public gatherings could be held to remember the deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which Lee and Chow helped lead, organised the annual candlelight vigil at Victoria Park.

The gatherings were banned in 2020, initially under coronavirus restrictions, and have not returned. The same year, Beijing imposed Hong Kong’s national security law, which created offences covering a broad range of activities deemed to threaten national security.

On mainland China, public discussion and even indirect references to the 1989 crackdown remain heavily restricted.

The Hong Kong Alliance was established in 1989 to support the student-led democracy movement. After Chinese troops moved to suppress the protests in Beijing, the organisation spent decades calling for accountability over the crackdown, the release of political dissidents and democratic reforms.

Its leaders were arrested and charged in 2021 and have remained in custody.

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Rights groups condemn convictions

The convictions have prompted strong criticism from international human rights organisations.

Amnesty International described the case as relying on broad and unclear definitions of subversion. Its deputy regional director for Asia-Pacific, Sarah Brooks, said Lee and Chow had committed no recognisable crime and called for their immediate release.

Human Rights Watch Asia director Elaine Pearson said the convictions demonstrated how acts of public remembrance had increasingly become criminalised in Hong Kong.

Chow has previously faced prosecution over her involvement in the Tiananmen vigil. She was arrested in 2021 for allegedly encouraging people to attend that year’s gathering and was later convicted.

Hong Kong’s top court overturned that conviction in 2022, ruling that police had not adequately justified the ban on the vigil.

The latest verdict represents another major development in the authorities’ handling of activities linked to the 1989 crackdown.

As the two activists await sentencing, their case has renewed international scrutiny of Hong Kong’s national security legislation and the shrinking space for public commemoration and political dissent.