Hong Kong Convicts 14 Activists

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Facts

• A Hong Kong court Thursday convicted 14 activists on national security charges for their role in an unofficial primary election in June 2020.¹
• Those found guilty of conspiracy to commit subversion included former politicians Leung Kwok-hung and Raymond Chan. Two former district councilors, Lee Yue-shun and Lawrence Lau, were acquitted.²
• The court ruled that the activists' plan for change via an unofficial primary election threatened the Hong Kong government's authority and could 'create a constitutional crisis.'³
• These activists, part of a group of 47 democracy advocates prosecuted in 2021, face between 10 years and life in prison. Sentencing will happen at a later date, including for the remaining 31 who pleaded guilty.⁴
• The defendants were prosecuted under China's national security law, imposed in 2020 after the 2019 mass anti-government protests.⁵
• The city's largest national security trial was heard without a jury. It was reportedly presided over by a bench of three High Court Judges handpicked by the Hong Kong government.⁶

Sources: ¹Firstpost, ²Express & Star, ³ABC News, ⁴New York Times, ⁵BBC News and ⁶CNN.

Narratives

• Anti-China narrative, as provided by Bloomberg. Despite Hong Kong authorities in 2019, with Beijing's backing, suppressing pro-democracy protests using police brutality and new laws, and claiming normalcy had returned, arrests for 'seditious' attire and the trial of 47 activists challenge this view. The fight for Hong Kong's true history and civic freedoms will continue.
• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. Hong Kong residents who demand a more Western-style government and an end to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration threaten China's sovereignty. Much of this is due to the hegemonic meddling of Western powers, and incorrectly romanticizing the days of the UK's colonial rule in Hong Kong.

Predictions