Hong Kong martial arts coach pleads guilty to inciting subversion for urging people to join ‘ghost-killer squad’
- Denis Wong, 60, called on others to join his paramilitary training sessions in preparation for a ‘violent revolution’
- Coach and 62-year-old student pleaded guilty to possessing arms without a licence over seven crossbows found at their respective homes

The operator of a martial arts training centre in Hong Kong has pleaded guilty to inciting subversion under the national security law by appealing to the public to join its “ghost-killer squad” and overthrow the government.
Martial arts coach Denis Wong Tak-keung appeared in the District Court on Friday to plead guilty before a judge, who was approved by the city’s leader to oversee his case. The 60-year-old has been in jail since his arrest last year.
Prosecutor Vincent Lee Ting-wai said Wong had called on others to join his paramilitary training sessions in preparation for a “violent revolution” and the establishment of “a shadow government and an independent Hong Kong State”.
“He operated a martial arts class. Superficially, it provided martial arts training to interested participants, but in fact, he aimed at recruiting students with the ultimate purpose of overthrowing the government,” Lee said.
Wong and 62-year-old marketing manager Iry Cheung Man-chee, one of his 20 students, also pleaded guilty to possessing arms without a licence over seven crossbows found at their respective homes. The prosecution agreed not to pursue two other counts of possessing offensive weapons after a plea bargain.