Law & Justice
Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil activists convicted
A Hong Kong court convicted Tiananmen vigil activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung on Friday of incitement to subversion in a national security case linked to annual memorials for Beijing's 1989 crackdown.
Lee, 69, and Chow, 41, face a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. They were charged in 2021 and have been behind bars under a Beijing-imposed national security law. Judge Alex Lee said the court expects to hear mitigation arguments next week.
A three-judge panel said Lee and Chow had committed acts that constituted “overthrowing or undermining the basic system” established by China's Constitution. The judges said they incited supporters to “use unlawful means” with the aim of subverting state power.
Lee and Chow rejected the charge, arguing that the “democratic transition” they advocated did not exclude Communist Party leadership. Former lawmaker Albert Ho, a third defendant, pleaded guilty in January.
Lee and Chow were leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which organised annual vigils in Victoria Park for people killed when Chinese authorities sent troops and tanks against protests calling for political reform in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.
Public Tiananmen commemoration has been effectively banned in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020 after major pro-democracy protests the previous year.
The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Taiwan, the United Nations and rights groups condemned the verdict. Washington called for Lee and Chow's immediate release.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “people should be allowed to speak and protest and demonstrate peacefully without fear of arrest and prosecution”, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Lee's wife, Elizabeth Tang, told reporters she was “furious” and did not think he was guilty. Chow's mother, Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun, expressed hope that “flowers of all colours can bloom”.
Hong Kong police National Security Department chief superintendent Steve Li welcomed the ruling and said the Hong Kong Alliance had spent years “planting seeds of hatred” against the Chinese Communist Party and the central government.
Eric Lai, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Asian Law, said the charge gave weight to intentions over actions. Urania Chiu, a law lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, said the case sent a “chilling message” to civil society in Hong Kong.
Amnesty International spokesman Fernando Cheung said the ruling marked another milestone in what he described as a government campaign to erase the legacy of Tiananmen vigil activists.
Update
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said people should be allowed to speak, protest and demonstrate peacefully without fear of arrest and prosecution, according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Eric Lai of Georgetown University's Center for Asian Law said the incitement to subversion charge gives weight to intentions over actions.
Urania Chiu of Oxford Brookes University said the case sends a chilling message to Hong Kong civil society.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 18:31:24 UTC.
Update
Lee Cheuk-yan's wife Elizabeth Tang said she was furious and hoped the sentence would not be severe.
Chow Hang-tung's mother Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun expressed hope for a healthier environment.
Amnesty International spokesman Fernando Cheung called the verdict another milestone in what he described as a campaign to erase the legacy of Tiananmen vigil activists.
Legal commentators Eric Lai and Urania Chiu gave assessments of the ruling's implications for peaceful advocacy and civil society.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 14:46:53 UTC.
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Riley Barnes, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, condemned the guilty verdict in a post on X.
Barnes called for the immediate release of the former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 14:06:38 UTC.
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The United States condemned the Hong Kong conviction of Tiananmen vigil activists, according to an official.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 13:57:29 UTC.
Update
France and Germany called for Chow Hang-tung's immediate release and urged Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to respect civil rights and freedoms.
France and Germany said Chow Hang-tung received the Franco-German Human Rights Award in 2023.
The EU said the conviction showed further deterioration of freedoms of expression and assembly and a shrinking space for independent civil society in Hong Kong.
EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anitta Hipper said the prosecution was politically motivated and undermined confidence in Hong Kong's rule of law.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 11:54:49 UTC.
Update
Britain said the verdict showed even peaceful acts of remembrance were being treated as national security threats.
Hong Kong police's National Security Department welcomed the ruling.
China's national security agency in Hong Kong said the defendants' actions seriously violated the national security law and undermined Chinese and Hong Kong interests.
Lee Cheuk-yan's wife Elizabeth Tang said she was furious and did not think he was guilty.
Chow Hang-tung's mother Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun expressed hope that the environment would become healthier.
Legal and academic observers Eric Lai and Urania Chiu criticised the case's implications for peaceful advocacy and civil society.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 10:55:41 UTC.
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France and Germany said they deeply regret the Hong Kong conviction of Tiananmen activist Chow.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 09:33:05 UTC.
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The judges said Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung's advocacy was non-violent but still unlawful under their ruling.
The court said the Hong Kong Alliance leaders' calls to “end one-party dictatorship” breached the Chinese constitution after the security law was imposed.
Judge Alex Lee said the court expects to hear mitigation arguments next week.
Lee's wife Elizabeth Tang Yin-ngor and Chow's mother Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun reacted after the verdict.
Hong Kong police national security official Steve Li welcomed the ruling.
Amnesty International spokesman Fernando Cheung condemned the verdict.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 05:33:27 UTC.
Update
Taiwan urged China to “stop political persecution” after the Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil activists were convicted.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 05:21:22 UTC.
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Chow Hang-tung is a 41-year-old Cambridge-educated lawyer who represented herself at trial and joined the Hong Kong Alliance in 2010.
Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, has worked in Hong Kong's labour movement since the 1970s and visited student demonstrators in Beijing in 1989.
Albert Ho, 74, is a lawyer-turned-politician, former Democratic Party leader and former pro-democracy lawmaker who helped found the Alliance.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 03:54:03 UTC.
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Human Rights Watch's Asia director Elaine Pearson said the conviction showed public displays of mourning had become a crime in Hong Kong.
Urania Chiu of Oxford Brookes University said the prosecution sent a chilling message to civil society about peaceful criticism of the state.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 03:19:30 UTC.
Update
Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung have been behind bars since being charged in 2021 under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
A three-judge panel said the defendants committed acts constituting overthrowing or undermining the basic system established by China's Constitution.
Chow Hang-tung wrote before the verdict that justice lies in the hearts of the people and criticised the way prison officers escorted her.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 02:54:58 UTC.
Update
Sentencing is expected at a later date.
A court press summary said Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung incited others to organise, plan, commit or participate in unlawful acts with a view to subverting state power.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 02:17:58 UTC.
Update
The Hong Kong Tiananmen activists in the national security trial were found guilty of inciting subversion.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 02:07:27 UTC.
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Dozens of police officers gathered outside the courthouse before the hearing, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
Former Hong Kong Alliance member Tang Ngok-kwan said he was denied entry after bringing old newspaper articles and bookmarks related to the June 4 movement.
Prosecutors argued the activists' remarks were intended to incite others to commit unlawful acts.
Lee Cheuk-yan's lawyer Erik Shum argued that criticism of state organs is protected by China's constitution and that prosecutors had not shown incitement to use unlawful means.
Oxford Brookes University law lecturer Urania Chiu said the verdict would indicate how courts interpret broadly drafted national security offences against rights and freedoms.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 01:55:20 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Sentencing has not yet taken place.
Source
AFP news report published on .