A Hong Kong court has convicted two organizers of the city's annual Tiananmen Square vigil for inciting subversion. Human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung and former lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan now face up to 10 years in prison under national security legislation.
A 10-year threat for the Hong Kong Alliance organizers
The West Kowloon Court found Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan guilty of inciting subversion on Friday. Both individuals served as key leaders for the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the organization that coordinated the city's large-scale commemorations of the 1989 massacre until 2019. According to the report, the two defendants now face potential jail terms of up to 10 years.
Chow Hang-tung, a prominent human rights lawyer, conducted her own legal defense during the proceedings. The verdict represents a significant escalation in the legal pressure placed on the city's remaining pro-democracy activists, following years of systematic crackdowns on public dissent.
The 2020 National Security Law's erasure of Victoria Park vigils
For decades, mourners gathered every June 4 in the Causeway Bay district to fill the soccer pitches of Victoria Park with candlelight. This tradition persisted even after the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China, serving as the only major public commemoration of the 1989 student-led democracy protests on Chinese soil. As the report says, this tradition was effectively ended by the imposition of a national security law by Beijing in 2020.
The 2020 legislation was introduced following the massive and often violent pro-democracy protests that gripped Hong Kong in 2019. While the Hong Kong government maintains these laws were essential to restore stability and order, critics and several Western nations, including the United States, argue the measures have been used to quash dissent and dismantle the city's unique freedoms.
Xi Jinping's recent praise for the 1989 crackdown
The court's decision comes shortly after Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered a speech praising the Communist Party's decision to clamp down on the 1989 Tiananmen protests. This rare public mention of the period underscores Beijing's commitment to controlling the narrative surrounding the events of June 4, 1989, when the ruling party deployed tanks to violently suppress peaceful protesters in Beijing.
The erasure of the Hong Kong vigils is a visible manifestation of this broader ideological shift. By criminalizing the act of remembering the massacre , the authorities are ensuring that the calls for an end to one-party rule, which were once common in Victoria Park, are silenced entirely within the region.
The sentencing timeline for Albert Ho and the missing death toll
While Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan were convicted on Friday, a third activist and veteran lawmaker , Albert Ho, had previously pleaded guilty. the report notes that Albert Ho will be sentenced at a later date, though the specific timeline for that sentencing remains unconfirmed.
Furthermore, the legal proceedings highlight a persistent void in the historical record: the Chinese government has never released an official death toll for the 1989 crackdown. While estimates range from several hundred to thousands of casualties, the subject remains strictly censored within mainland China, leaving the court's focus on "subversion" rather than the historical facts of the massacre itself.
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