Officials from the central and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region governments said the guilty verdict in the case of the now disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and its former leaders demonstrated the effectiveness of Hong Kong's rule of law, and vowed that any acts endangering national security would be investigated and severely punished.
Their statements were made on Friday after the alliance and its former leaders were found guilty of inciting subversion under the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law (NSL) for their attempts to stir up public hatred of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and for advocating an end to its leadership.
According to a judgment handed down at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building, national security judges said that the defendants — the alliance, its former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan, vice-chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan and vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung — were fully aware that their ambition to end CPC’s leadership contravened the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China after the implementation of the NSL. However, they "refused to pull back from the brink and were bent on embracing the resistance line of the alliance to the very end."
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In a statement released on Friday afternoon, the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR expressed its firm support for the verdict, stating that it “demonstrates the spirit of the rule of law and upholds the authority of the HKSAR National Security Law."
The office said that the evidence presented in court showed that the defendants fabricated negative issues, and frequently used terms such as "resistance" and "disobedience". They organized and incited the public to attend marches and rallies, disseminating their message through newspapers and other media in an attempt to stir up hatred, hostility, and disaffection toward the central government, while inciting people to subvert the CPC’s leadership and undermine the country's fundamental system.
A spokesperson for the office said the ruling aligns with Hong Kong’s fundamental interests and reflects public consensus, marking a necessary requirement for the “full and accurate implementation” of the NSL and “a righteous move” to safeguard national security in accordance with the law. The spokesperson also pledged that the office will firmly support the SAR’s executive, legislative, and judicial authorities in fulfilling their constitutional duty to safeguard national security.
In a separate statement, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the alliance had been, over a long period, deliberately "planting seeds of hatred" within Hong Kong society, attempting to incite disaffection, hatred and other sentiments within the public against the CPC and the central government through various means, and inciting people to subvert State power. The acts of the defendants had endangered national security, Lee said, adding that their conspiracy was "abundantly clear, which must be brought to justice".
He also said that incitement to subversion is an “extremely serious offense”, and reaffirmed that the SAR government has the responsibility to safeguard national security, and will "resolutely prevent, suppress and punish" acts and activities endangering national security.
"This case once again demonstrates that no matter how offenders disguise their real agendas with sophistry and rhetoric, as long as they commit an offense endangering national security, the HKSAR government will ensure that laws are observed and strictly enforced to bring the offenders to account," Lee said.
Contact the writer at gangwen@chinadailyhk.com
