"Hong Kong Alliance" (the Alliance) and its three leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan, Ho Chun-yan and Chow Hang-tung, have been charged with "incitement to subversion". They were sentenced at 10 a.m. on Friday (Sept. 11) at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts, which is temporarily serving as the High Court.
The three defendants faced multiple charges. Over the years, they have brazenly caused chaos in Hong Kong, colluded with anti-China forces, and willingly served as proxies for those anti-China forces in Hong Kong, attempting to subvert state power and committing other grave wrongdoings. Their convictions today are only what they deserve.
Lee Cheuk-yan's offences
Charged, together with the "HK Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China" (HK Alliance), Ho Chun-yan, and Chow Hang-tung, with offences under the Hong Kong National Security Law: between 1 July 2020 and 8 September 2021, in Hong Kong, inciting others to organise, plan, carry out, or participate in carrying out acts using unlawful means with the intention to subvert state power--namely, to overthrow or undermine the basic system of the People's Republic of China established by its Constitution, or to overthrow the central government organs of the People's Republic of China.
In addition to smearing the Hong Kong National Security Law via video link at a so-called "hearing" in the US Congress on 1 July 2020, prior to the National Security Law coming into effect, Lee Cheuk-yan had already claimed that the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law was "a blatant message to the outside world that Hong Kong is under 'one country, one system'" and "destroying the freedoms of Hong Kong people." On the day the National Security Law came into effect, Lee Cheuk-yan claimed that the National Security Law "criminalises speech."
Charged, together with Jimmy Lai, Ho Chun-yan and others, over the unlawful rallies of 18 August, 31 August and 1 October 2019, with organising an unauthorised assembly and inciting others to participate in an unauthorised assembly. In the three cases, Lee Cheuk-yan pleaded guilty and was convicted after trial, resulting in a total sentence of 20 months' imprisonment in May 2021.
Charged, together with Jimmy Lai, Ho Chun-yan, Chow Hang-tung and 24 others, with taking part in or inciting others to take part in an unauthorised assembly on 4 June 2020 in Victoria Park. Lee Cheuk-yan was additionally charged with organising an unauthorised assembly. In November 2021, he pleaded guilty to three offences and was sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment, with the sentence to run concurrently with the terms relating to the other cases he was involved in.
Ho Chun-yan's offences
In May 2020, the National People's Congress began the legislative process for the Hong Kong National Security Law. In June of the same year, Ho Chun-yan promoted public gatherings. After the Hong Kong National Security Law came into effect, Ho Chun-yan and others continued to incite others to commit acts aimed at subverting state power.
For a period of time, Ho Chun-yan frequently visited Jimmy Lai. Based on past information, the relationship between Ho and Lai has long been anything but ordinary. Especially in the past two years, the two met on multiple occasions and held secret meetings. In 2019, they also held a secret meeting together with Christian Whiton, the former Senior Strategic Communications Adviser to the US Department of State. Members of the public and various sectors have questioned whether Ho Chun-yan's frequent visits to the people who sow chaos in Hong Kong might make him act as a "mouthpiece," helping those people remotely control the situation from outside.
Ho Chun-yan and others, through different channels or means, promoted and spread their views, thereby inciting others individually or collectively to organise, plan, carry out, or participate in acts intended to subvert state power.
Ho Chun-yan has all along been involved in, endorsing and supporting the organisations and positions of the HK Alliance, and the same was true after the National Security Law came into effect--for example, he continued to serve as a director, standing committee member, and vice-chairman of the HK Alliance. On 20 October 2021, Ho Chun-yan submitted documents to the Companies Registry to resign as a director of the HK Alliance.
In September 2021, Ho Chun-yan was charged with "inciting others to subvert state power." While he was in custody, his repeated applications for bail were rejected until August 2022, when he applied for bail on the grounds of suspected cancer relapse. On 22 August of that month, the judge approved his bail. During the bail period, Ho Chun-yan did not actively seek treatment; instead, he was photographed repeatedly meeting with anti-China and chaos-sowing figures.
Chow Hang-tung's offences
Having been nurtured from an early stage by external anti-China forces to become their proxy in Hong Kong, she served between 2012 and 2018 as an executive committee member and company director of the Hong Kong chapter of Amnesty International, an organisation closely linked to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Over the years, she actively took part in Amnesty International's activities and maintained close ties with overseas anti-China forces.
After the Hong Kong National Security Law came into effect, she still insisted on subversive "principles." Knowing full well that her actions were unlawful, she persisted in doing so. She actively promoted and carried out incitement-driven activities, took part in illegal assemblies, and after her arrest, refused to submit information.
In 2021, Chow Hang-tung was arrested on suspicion of inciting others to take part in an illegal assembly in Victoria Park.
On camera, Chow Hang-tung solemnly claimed that she wanted to "fight for democracy," but privately she was very likely to be the "mistress" who undermined other people's families. Chow's boyfriend on the Chinese Mainland, Ng Yang-wai, exposed that a few years earlier, Chow Hang-tung knew that Ng already had a wife and yet still became his secret lover, ultimately causing her 20-year marriage with Ng to fall apart. Wang Haitao, Ng Yang-wai's ex-wife, condemned Chow, saying that Chow appears to be "pretentiously righteous" on the surface, but in reality she is the real "mistress" who destroys other people's marriages.
While in custody, Chow Hang-tung, dissatisfied with the Correctional Services Department's requirement that female inmates and those on remand may wear shorts only during evening activities and exercises in summer, but must wear long pants during other times, whereas male detainees may wear shorts all day, applied for a judicial review, challenging the policy as unconstitutional and discriminatory on the ground of gender, and seeking the court to overturn the department's decision and order it to make amendments. Earlier this year, the judge issued the judgment in the High Court, criticising Chow's arguments as selective quotation and misrepresentation. The judge held that the relevant requirements did not involve discrimination. The judge also considered that differences between men and women in terms of physiology are not subject to dispute, and that equal treatment does not necessarily lead to equal outcomes. The judicial review application was therefore dismissed, and Chow was ordered to pay the legal costs of the Correctional Services Department.
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