Hong Kong activists Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan were convicted on August 21, 2026, of inciting subversion under the city’s National Security Law for their leadership in organizing annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
The Hong Kong High Court convicted Chow, 41, and Lee, 69, alongside a third former leader of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Albert Ho, 74, who pleaded guilty in January. The defendants face up to 10 years in prison under the security legislation.
According to the High Court ruling, the Hong Kong Alliance’s stated mission to “end one-party dictatorship” in China constituted an attempt to overthrow the Chinese government through unlawful means. While the court acknowledged that the group never advocated violence, it ruled that the advocacy contravened the Chinese Constitution, which establishes the Chinese Communist Party’s perpetual rule and excludes “the possibility of Western-style rotation of political parties in power.” The judges further stated that the activists stirred up hostility against the Chinese Communist Party by comparing the 1989 crackdown to Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests.
Throughout the proceedings, Chow—acting as her own counsel since she is a lawyer—saw her attempts to call various scholars and activists as witnesses turned down by the state-appointed judges, who also frequently cut off her questioning of defense witnesses and prevented her side from entering audio files and pictures concerning the Tiananmen Massacre into evidence. In her closing statement, Chow denounced the proceedings: “Speaking the truth is branded as inciting hatred… demanding accountability and limits on power is portrayed as portrayed as violating the constitution, and returning power to the people is condemned as subversion.”
In the courtroom on the day of the verdict, Chow smiled while Lee made a heart gesture and folded his hands in gratitude to the gallery, according to BBC coverage. Chinese authorities have previously labeled the now-defunct alliance a “toxic tumour.” Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director, stated that Chow and Lee had “not committed any recognisable crime” and called them prisoners of conscience who “must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Human Rights Watch Asia director Elaine Pearson said the convictions demonstrate that public mourning has been criminalized in the territory. “These activists exposed how the Chinese government fears the memory of its own atrocities and treats remembrance as a national security threat,” Pearson said.
According to updates shared by Chow’s social media channels, her transit to and from court appearances relied on a heavy restraint setup featuring waist chains, leg irons, handcuffs, and a tether-like tether that forced her joints into unnatural angles, resulting in persistent discomfort and muscle fatigue—methods of handling that could potentially constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
The Hong Kong Alliance had organized annual vigils to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre since 1990. Those commemorations were banned by authorities on Covid-19 grounds in 2020 and 2021 before the alliance was forced to disband.
A hearing to consider mitigating circumstances is scheduled for August 28, with sentencing to follow.
