A Hong Kong court this month convicted two leaders of a dissolved pro-democracy group to erase the memory of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, a pro-democracy activist who was a student leader during the 1989 event told Radio Free Asia.
The Hong Kong High Court ruled Aug. 21 that the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, its former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and its former vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung, were guilty of “inciting subversion of state power.”
The Alliance is best known for organizing yearly candlelight vigils in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park each year in remembrance of the Tiananmen incident, a practice that continued until 2019.
In 2020 authorities stopped the vigil citing health concerns during the pandemic, then from 2021 onward they were able to use Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law to end it permanently.
Erasing the past
The verdict is intended to discourage commemorations of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Wang Dan, who was a student leader of the protests in 1989, told RFA.
“The authorities clearly hope to use this verdict to erase every trace of history and prevent Hong Kong people from remembering June 4th,” he said, referring to the massacre by the date which it occurred, as is customary in Chinese.
Wang said that he does not believe authorities can succeed in erasing the event from the public consciousness.
“Such a verdict will only lead more people to commemorate it in silence,” he said. “Silent remembrance is still remembrance. The memories people carry in their hearts cannot be completely destroyed by such brutal acts.”
In September 2021, authorities arrested Lee, Chow, and another former chairman of the Alliance, Albert Ho, with “inciting subversion of state power.”
The Alliance voted to dissolve on Sept. 25 of that year.
Lee and Chow were held in custody until the trial, which began in January of this year. Ho was initially held in custody but was briefly let out on bail for medical grounds in 2022, then returned into custody in 2023.
Ho pleaded guilty while Lee and Chow both pleaded innocent. The court on Aug. 21 found Lee, Chow, and the disbanded organization guilty.
Legal argument
A core point of contention in this case is the Hong Kong Alliance’s long-standing call to “end one-party rule.”
The court held that after the implementation of the National Security Law in 2020, the Hong Kong Alliance and its leaders continued to promote this goal and incited others to carry out acts of subversion of state power by illegal means.
During the trial, Lee and Chow argued that “ending one-party rule” was about promoting democratic transition and did not equate to demanding an end to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, while also believing that related political expressions were protected by freedom of speech in Hong Kong. However, the court did not accept this argument.
The Hong Kong Police National Security Department stated that the court’s ruling was in line with their view of the case. The police also noted that the Alliance continued to hold rallies, exhibitions, street campaigns, and online memorial activities after the law went into effect.
Sentences are yet to be determined, but the two could face up to 10 years in prison.
Edited by Eugene Whong.
