Hong Kong police arrested 53 people on Wednesday on suspicion of subversion under the National Security Law. They were suspected of conspiring to pressure the spe­cial administrative region’s chief executive to step down and para­lyze the SAR government. 

Those arrested were involved in a self­-organized ballot by the opposition camp in July, ahead of the now­ postponed Legislative Council election, to help the camp secure an absolute majority in the city’s legislature. After that, they would veto the SAR gov­ernment’s annual budget indiscrimi­nately and force the government to shut down due to lack of funding. 

They include Benny Tai Yiu­-ting, who initiated the campaign, former lawmakers Leung Kwok-­hung, Alvin Yeung Ngok-­kiu and Eddie Chu Hoi­-dick, some sitting district councilors and some other activists. 

Senior superintendent Steve Li Kwai­-wah of the police’s national security branch told a news brief­ing that among those arrested, six had organized and plotted the campaign and the others participated in it. The maximum penalty for subversion under the National Security Law is life imprisonment. 

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Senior superintendent Steve Li Kwai­-wah of the police’s national security branch said that those arrested were involved in a self­-organized ballot by the opposition camp in July to help the camp secure an absolute majority in the city’s legislature. Li said that the only goal of the plan was to paralyze the government, which violated Article 22 of the National Security Law

According to the police, the idea to paralyze the government was floated in March. In April, the activ­ists formed solid plans — to gain 35 seats and above and veto the financial budget twice to stop the govern­ ment operating. 

In June, they set election dates and started crowdfunding and promo­tion via social media platforms and forums. Despite the government’s warning that the plan was potentially subversive and may be a violation of the National Security Law, the informal ballot was held on July 11 and 12, and the so-called result was announced on July 13. The organizer claimed about 610,000 local residents voted. 

Senior superintendent Li said the plan was executed step by step with strong determination and abundant resources, adding that the only goal was to paralyze the government, which violated Article 22 of the National Security Law. Yet he stressed that police would not launch criminal investigations into voters. 

Article 22 stipulates that any per­son who organizes, plans or partici­pates in acts that undermine the central government’s or the HKSAR’s body of power to perform duties by unlawful means with a view to subverting State power shall be guilty of an offense. 

With court warrants, police searched 72 locations across the city and ordered four companies to turn in necessary documents related to the case, Li said. In addi­tion, police froze assets amount­ing to HK$1.6 million (US$206,400) in relation to the case. 

Prior to Wednesday’s arrests, at least 40 people had been arrested under the National Security Law since it was implemented on June 30 last year, including Jimmy Lai Chee­-ying, founder of Next Media, which owns Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. 

Following the arrests, the Liai­son Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR and the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, in separate statements, expressed support for the police action. 

A spokesperson for the liaison office said in its statement that the implementation of the National Security Law is a turning point for the city to restore order. Only by strictly enforc­ing the law can the long­term stability of society and the sound and sustained implementation of “one country, two systems” be guaranteed, it said. 

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In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, the Hong Kong SAR government stressed it had zero tolerance for subversive acts and that it would take deterrent actions as necessary. 

Meeting the press on Wednes­day, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-­chiu said the ballot was part of a vicious plan devised by a group of activists to paralyze the Hong Kong government. If the plan had gone through, Hong Kong would have suffered incalcu­lable losses and been thrown into an abyss, Lee said. 

Some lawmakers — such as Holden Chow Ho­-ding, Elizabeth Quat Pui-­fan and Leung Che-­cheung from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, and Alice Mak Mei­-kuen from the Hong Kong Federa­tion of Trade Unions, also said the police action was necessary and jus­tified. They added that manipula­tion of legislative election cannot be tolerated. 

gangwen@chinadaily.com.cn