Tiananmen Square vigil organisers in Hong Kong found guilty of ‘inciting subversion’

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung - leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance – were tried under under a 2020 national security law

Two Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils marking China’s deadly Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 were found guilty of “incitement to subversion”, in one of the most high-profile cases in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed its national security law in 2020.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41 “incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power”, a press summary handed out to reporters said.

The defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. Sentencing is expected on a later date.

Lee and Chow’s trial began in January and took place over 24 days. A third defendant, 74-year-old former lawmaker Albert Ho, pleaded guilty in January. Chow, who represented herself, told the court in May that the law itself was on trial.

Lee and Chow were leaders of a now disbanded group – Hong Kong Alliance – that organised the city’s annual vigil in memory of those killed in the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing in 1989.

In court, Lee and Chow waved to supporters from the dock surrounded by correctional officers. Lee appeared solemn as the judge handed down the verdict. He made a heart shaped gesture with his hands and waved to supporters before being led out of the court.

Hong Kong and Macau were formerly the only places on Chinese soil that permitted public vigils to mourn those killed on 4 June 1989, when Chinese sent troops and tanks to crush protests calling for political reform in and around the capital’s Tiananmen Square.

However, public commemoration has been effectively banned since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before.

The Alliance’s leaders were charged in 2021 and have been behind bars since . Ahead of the verdict, Chow wrote a message from prison seen by the Guardian addressed to UK prime minister Andy Burnham.

“They are trying to re-write Hong Kong history … they certainly want to erase some memories, or memories of some chapters in our history,” the Cambridge-educated barrister wrote.

In the letter, Chow said “Britain has a non-delegable duty to adopt a more robust stance in the face of the growing threat from a totalitarian and aggressive China .”

The case centred on the Alliance’s slogan demanding an “end to one-party rule.” The court found that the defendants “intended to cause others to lose confidence in the Chinese Communist party by stirring up hostility and causing division”.

The defence argued that the Alliance was exercising its freedom of speech.