The constitution of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the most important component of the city’s constitutional order, and is of paramount importance to “one country, two systems”, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said on Friday.

Tang's reaction came after the HKSAR’s High Court convicted a dismantled political alliance and its former leaders of inciting subversion by stirring up public hatred toward the Communist Party of China and advocating ending the Party’s leadership.

He said the HKSAR government considers the court’s verdict as having enabled justice to be done in the case against the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and its leaders who were charged with “incitement to subversion.”

The security chief noted that the alliance, since its establishment, had adopted so-called fundamental agendas and objectives to end the CPC’s leadership and overthrow the fundamental system of the People’s Republic of China established by the Constitution.

“We must all acknowledge that the constitution is the fundamental law of the State. Its preamble makes it clear that the CPC leadership is the core and foundation of the constitutional order of the PRC,” he said.

He pointed out that Article 22 of the Hong Kong National Security Law explicitly prohibits the overthrowing or undermining of the country’s fundamental system or overthrowing its central power.

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“In this case, even after the National Security Law for Hong Kong had taken effect, the defendants continued with various acts, including attempting to hold unauthorized assemblies, inciting the public through slogans and so-called resistance, publishing content, giving media interviews and speaking publicly, attempting to incite others to subvert State power, and overthrow or undermine the CPC’s leadership status by unlawful means, constituting the offense as stipulated in the city’s National Security Law.”

The High Court said the reasons for its ruling clearly state that the defendants were put on trial not because of their political views or beliefs, Tang said, adding that neither did the charge involve any issue relating to democracy or criticism against the central government.

“The court also pointed out that the defendants had all along been hostile towards the CPC and the central government under its leadership, and adhered to the course of resisting the central government and refusing to make any compromise,” he said.

Tang reiterated that regarding any attempt to endanger national security, "we will act in strict accordance with the principle of the rule of law and never show leniency”.

The High Court on Friday found the alliance, its former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and former vice-chairperson Chow Hang-tung guilty of incitement to subversion. Another former vice-chairman, Albert Ho Chun-yan, had pleaded guilty in January this year after they were charged in 2021 under the HKSAR’s National Security Law.

In their ruling, the three national security judges said the defendants understood that the alliance’s agenda of ending the CPC’s leadership would contravene the PRC’s constitution following the implementation of Hong Kong’s National Security Law on June 30, 2020, but “refused to pull back from the brink and were bent on embracing the resistance line of the alliance to the very end”.

The judges agreed that, as “the defining feature” of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC’s leadership is an integral element of the country’s “fundamental system”. Therefore, advocating the removal of the CPC is tantamount to “overthrowing” or “undermining” the fundamental system stipulated in Article 22 of the law.