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Brian Wong

A Hong Kong man has pleaded guilty to sedition under the city’s domestic national security law for wearing a T-shirt and mask with pro-independence messages as part of attempts to revive memories of the 2019 anti-government protests.
Chu Kai-pong, 27, is the first person convicted under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which was enacted in accordance with a requirement under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
The unemployed Sha Tin resident on Monday admitted wearing a black T-shirt bearing the slogan “Free Hong Kong, liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” on his way to lunch on June 12 this year.
He had also worn a yellow mask emblazoned with the characters “FDNOL”, an apparent reference to the “five demands, not one less” protest mantra during the 2019 unrest.
Chu, who has been remanded in custody since June 14, pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Court to committing a seditious act in exchange for prosecutors dropping charges of loitering and failing to produce proof of identity.
A prosecution case summary said the defendant was “acting suspiciously” when a police officer spotted him outside Shek Mun MTR station at around 12.15pm that day.
In three subsequent video-recorded interviews, Chu said he deliberately wore the offensive shirt as he wanted Hong Kong to return to British colonial rule and hoped others would echo his belief.
He said the mask conveyed a similar message that called for overthrowing the regime and the Hong Kong Police Force.
Chu also revealed he always brought with him a box containing his excrement, to use in attacks against those opposing his views.
Senior Inspector Choi Wai-kiu of the National Security Department said the public had been sufficiently informed of a 2020 High Court ruling that defined calls for Hong Kong’s “liberation” as capable of inciting secession.
The officer noted Chu committed the offence on a “special date” related to the 2019 unrest, during which protesters had “used violence and created disorder to resist the incumbent Hong Kong government as well as inciting others to build a Hong Kong nation”.
Defence counsel Steven Kwan Man-wai, in his mitigation submissions, highlighted the change in the maximum sentence of sedition after the ordinance came into force in March this year.

He said Chu, who had one prior conviction, would have faced up to three years in jail as a repeat offender under a colonial-era sedition law, which has since been repealed.
While the ordinance stipulated a maximum jail sentence of seven years for sedition offences, it was capped at two years when it was the only charge to be tried before a magistrate, Kwan added.
The defence lawyer acknowledged a jail term was inevitable given Chu’s criminal record and a lack of a provision providing for a suspended sentence in sedition cases.
He urged the court to avoid increasing Chu’s sentence merely on the grounds of safeguarding national security.
Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak, who is among the few jurists hand-picked by the city leader to oversee national security cases, said he did not consider Chu a habitual criminal, but noted the court might be entitled to impose a heavier penalty to protect society.
The court adjourned sentencing until Thursday.
Police have also prosecuted two men, aged 29 and 58, for alleged sedition over words written on public buses and videos published on social media.
The two defendants, who have been remanded since they were respectively taken to court, are expected to plead guilty when their cases are heard again later this week.
The national security ordinance, which was designed to complement the sweeping legislation imposed by Beijing in June 2020, also targets offences such as treason, insurrection, espionage and external interference, with penalties running up to life imprisonment.


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Hong Kong man pleads guilty to sedition for wearing clothes with pro-independence slogans

Hong Kong courts

Hongkonger Chu Kai-pong, 27, pleads guilty to sedition at West Kowloon Court. Photo: Jelly Tse

An image of Chu Kai-pong from his social media account. Officers spotted him “acting suspiciously” outside an MTR station. Photo: Facebook/Mutong Chu

Hong Kong authorities reject claims by 23-nation coalition about state of media freedom

Former Stand News acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam (left) and ex-editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen have been found guilty of sedition. Photo: Edmond So

The ruling against Stand News and its former editors has drawn a backlash from the city’s largest journalists group and observers abroad. Photo: May Tse

Hong Kong national security police arrest 2 for alleged sedition over fake suicide note

Police arrest a man over alleged sedition. Photo: Edmond So

Police say pair were apprehended for allegedly acting with seditious intent. Photo: Warton Li

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Conviction for wearing T-shirt with words ‘Free Hong Kong, liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times’ is first under Article 23 law


Conviction for wearing T-shirt with words ‘Free Hong Kong, liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times’ is first under Article 23 law.


Hong Kong’s Article 23 national security law

Hong Kong national security law (NSL)

Hong Kong protests