Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil activists convicted as sentencing awaits

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung have been found guilty in Hong Kong of inciting subversion in a case tied to annual vigils for the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The verdict was delivered under the city's 2020 national security law, which has become the legal basis for some of the most closely watched political prosecutions in Hong Kong. Sentencing will take place later, and the two defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

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The pair were leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which organised the city's annual Victoria Park vigils. A third defendant, former lawmaker Albert Ho, pleaded guilty in January, while the trial of Lee and Chow began in January and ran for 24 days. Chow, who represented herself, told the court in May that the law itself was on trial, and a press summary said the defendants had incited others to organise, plan, commit or take part in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting state power.

The case is significant because Hong Kong was long one of the only places on Chinese soil where public mourning for the 4 June 1989 crackdown was permitted. That changed after Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020, following the large pro-democracy protests of the previous year. Public commemoration has since been effectively banned, and the Alliance's leaders were charged in 2021 and have remained in custody.

The verdict also highlights the continuing legal and political consequences of the Tiananmen vigil movement in Hong Kong. Rights groups have argued that the case relies on broad definitions of subversion, while the authorities have treated the prosecution as part of their national security response. The hearing took place amid a heavy police presence outside the courthouse, underlining the sensitivity of the proceedings.

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The Hong Kong Alliance was founded in May 1989 to support students involved in pro-democracy protests in Beijing, and for decades it called for accountability, the release of dissidents and democratic reform. Its annual vigils in Victoria Park became a major symbol of public remembrance in the city. Since the national security law took effect, however, the space for organised dissent and public political expression has narrowed sharply.

What remains unclear is the sentence the court will impose and whether it will approach the maximum allowed under the law. It is also not yet clear what effect the guilty verdicts may have on other former alliance members or on any future attempts to mark the Tiananmen crackdown publicly. The next key development will be the sentencing hearing, which is likely to draw close attention from rights groups and observers of Hong Kong's legal system.

Two Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have been found guilty of inciting others to subvert state power in a national security trial linked to annual vigils for the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were convicted at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts under the city's China-imposed national security law. Sentencing is expected later, and both face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

A third defendant, former lawmaker Albert Ho, had already pleaded guilty in January. Prosecutors said the defendants had endangered national security in the name of human rights, while Chow told the court in May that the law itself was on trial. The verdict marks another significant step in a case that has been closely watched because of its link to Hong Kong's once-annual public commemorations of the 1989 crackdown in Beijing.

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Hong Kong was for years one of the few places in Chinese territory where people could gather publicly to remember the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Those gatherings were banned in 2020, officially on Covid-19 grounds, and have not resumed. That same year, the national security law came into force, broadening the range of conduct that can be treated as dissent.

The law has since become a central tool in the authorities' response to political opposition and public protest. Lee and Chow were leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which was founded in May 1989 to support students taking part in pro-democracy rallies. Weeks later, troops and tanks were used to crush the protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Estimates of the death toll from that crackdown range from a few hundred to many thousands. Over the following three decades, the Alliance called on the authorities to accept responsibility, free dissidents and introduce democratic reform. The case is significant beyond the courtroom because it touches on how Hong Kong handles memory, protest and political speech under the national security framework.

It also reflects the shrinking space for organised dissent in the city since the law was introduced. Rights groups have criticised the case, with Amnesty International saying it relies on vague, overly broad and arbitrary definitions of subversion. The defendants were charged in 2021 and have been behind bars since.

The verdict leaves sentencing as the next major stage in the proceedings, with the court yet to set a date. It is also unclear how the guilty findings will affect other people connected to the former alliance or to similar commemorative activity. For now, the case remains one of the most prominent national security prosecutions arising from Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigil movement.

What happens at sentencing will be closely watched, including whether the court imposes a custodial term near the maximum allowed under the law. The case also raises wider questions about the future of public remembrance of the 1989 crackdown in Hong Kong. Further legal developments may clarify how broadly the national security law will continue to be applied to political organising and symbolic acts of commemoration.

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