Activist behind Tiananmen Square anniversary events in Hong Kong among 6 arrested under new domestic security law for posting ‘seditious content’
- Among those detained is activist Chow Hang-tung, security chief Chris Tang reveals
- Chow’s mother is one of the six suspects, Post has learned
The force’s National Security Department said a woman, with the help of five others, was alleged to have used a social media platform from April to “exploit an upcoming sensitive date” and was repeatedly publishing posts to “provoke hatred” towards the central authorities, the city government and the judiciary.
It said she was on remand in Tai Lam Centre for Women.
A source said Chow’s mother, Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun, was among the suspects.
The other four were former Tsuen Wan district councillor Chan Kim-kam, League of Social Democrats member Lee Ying-chi and two activists linked to the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Lau Ka-yee and Kwan Chun-pong, the insider said.
The alliance organised past vigils in the city’s Victoria Park to mark the June 4 crackdown.
Police said the six suspects were aged between 37 and 65.
Tang also confirmed the arrests were linked to the publication of allegedly seditious content on a Facebook page called “ChowHangTungClub”.
“I would like to reiterate that the crime is not about the subject. They are utilising the subject and during which they have incited hatred against the central government and our Hong Kong government and the judiciary. This incitement of hatred is the cause of the crime,” Tang said.
The security minister, citing potential prosecutions, did not detail how recent posts published on the Facebook page, which included Chow’s personal reflections ahead of the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, constituted the seditious element of the offence.
The series of messages, many of which recounted past events held in the city commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown, was purportedly penned by Chow herself and began to appear on the page on April 30.
Each message called on people to share their personal reflections as well.
The most recent post, uploaded on Monday evening, recounted a 2010 incident where a statue placed outside the Times Square shopping centre in Causeway Bay was seized by the authorities.
The most popular post, which garnered more than 1,000 reactions, was Chow’s thoughts on noodles served at a restaurant she used to visit before the annual June 4 vigil in nearby Victoria Park.
While not part of the series, a post uploaded on May 8 also discussed the injunction that banned the circulation of “Glory to Hong Kong”, a protest anthem that gained popularity during the 2019 anti-government unrest.
The Facebook page, created in May last year, had more than 6,500 followers as of Tuesday afternoon and an administrator based in the United Kingdom, according to page transparency information.
Police officers searched the homes of five arrestees with court warrants, seizing items that included electronic devices suspected to have been used for posting the allegedly seditious content on the social media platform.
“Those who intend to endanger national security should not have any delusion to evade police investigation by using anonymous means on the internet,” the force said.
It also urged the public not to “misled by erroneous and twisted information”, or be incited to take part in illegal activities that could endanger national security.
The arrests were the first since the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance was enacted on March 23, though the sedition offence had been part of the city’s criminal laws before being incorporated into the new legislation.
The ordinance states that it is an offence for a person to utter a word that carries seditious intention, including to bring a person in Hong Kong into hatred, contempt or disaffection against the executive or judicial authority of the city, or to incite any other person to do an act that does not comply with the law.
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Those convicted of offences face a maximum punishment of seven years’ imprisonment.
Chow is on remand pending a national security trial before a panel of three High Court judges for allegedly inciting subversion through her work with the alliance, where she was vice-chairwoman.
Two former senior alliance members, chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and vice-chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan, face the same charge and are currently behind bars.
Chow and two other ex-standing committee members were also convicted last year for rejecting a police request for details about alliance members, donors, financial reports and activities. Their appeal was dismissed in March.
The alliance, which was disbanded in September 2021, had organised the annual candlelight vigil in Victoria Park until 2019. Authorities banned the event in 2020 and 2021 on public health grounds during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A carnival will be held at the venue from June 1 to 5 this year and is co-organised by the Federation of Hong Kong Guangdong Community Organisations and other groups.
