HONG KONG (AP) — A trial against two pro-democracy activists behind a group that for decades organized a vigil that commemorated people killed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 opened Thursday, in another landmark case brought under a China-imposed national security law that has practically crushed protests in the semiautonomous Chinese city.
Critics say their case shows that Beijing’s promise to keep the city’s Western-style civil liberties intact for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 has weakened over time. But the city’s government said its law enforcement actions were evidence-based and strictly in accordance with the law.
Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were charged with incitement to subversion in September 2021 under the law. They are accused of inciting others to organize, plan or act through unlawful means with a view to subvert state power, and if convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Chow, Lee and Ho have been in custody, awaiting the trial’s opening.
As they entered the courtroom, Lee waved at his supporters, who waved back and said “good morning” to him. Ho sat calmly. Chow thanked her supporters for enduring winds during the night and bowed to her supporters.
Minutes later, Lee and Chow pleaded not guilty, while Ho entered a guilty plea, which could help him get a sentence reduction.
The prosecution began reading out the case details about Ho on Thursday morning, and has not started its case yet.
Trial expected to last 75 days
Three government-vetted judges will preside over the trial, which is expected to last 75 days. Videos related to the alliance’s years of work will be part of the prosecution evidence. The judges had said the court will not allow the trial to become a tool of political suppression in the name of law.
In reading out the case details that Ho pleaded guilty to, prosecutor Ned Lai took issue with the alliance’s call of ending one-party rule. Lai said ending the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership is against the constitution, and there’s no legal means to do it.
He pointed to the alliance’s work, including previously operating a museum about the crackdown in the city.
In a prosecution’s opening statement published on the judiciary’s website, it alleged that the Hong Kong alliance had used the pretext of democracy or the “June 4th incident,” alongside negative content targeting the country, to promote its calls. June 4 is the crackdown’s anniversary.
The prosecution said its core demand of “ending one-party rule” must require acts that violate the Chinese constitution, and that is using “unlawful means” to subvert state power. Although the defendants may not have explicitly mentioned specific plans or means to achieve the illegal goal, the natural and reasonable effect of their words was to aim at ending the party’s leadership, it said.
Urania Chiu, lecturer in law at Oxford Brookes University, said the case goes to the heart of freedom of expression.
“The prosecution case hinges on the argument that the Alliance’s general call for ‘bringing the one-party rule to an end’ constitutes subversion without more, which amounts to criminalizing an idea, a political ideal that is very far from being actualized,” she said.
Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director, alleged the case was about “rewriting history and punishing those who refuse to forget the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown.”
Their supporters stayed overnight outside the court
Before sunrise, dozens of people were already in line outside the court building to secure a seat in the public gallery under a cold-weather warning.
Tang Ngok-kwan, a former core member of the alliance, has been queuing since Monday afternoon. He said he wanted to show support for his former colleagues in detention.
“They use their freedom to exchange for a dignified defense,” he said. “It’s about being accountable to history.”
Former pro-democracy district councilor Chan Kim-kam, a former vigil-goer and also Chow’s friend, stayed awake the whole night outside the building.
“We need to witness this, regardless of the results,” she said.
Among people sitting in the public gallery were Lee’s wife, Chow’s mother and other pro-democracy activists like Tang.
Alliance’s disbandment a blow to civil society
The alliance was best known for organizing the only large-scale public commemoration of the 1989 crackdown in China for decades. Tens of thousands of people attended it annually until authorities banned it in 2020 because of COVID-19.
After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the park was occupied instead by a carnival organized by pro-Beijing groups. Those who tried to commemorate the event near the site were detained.
Before the alliance voted to disband in September 2021, police had sought details about the group, saying they had reasonable grounds to believe it was acting as a foreign agent. The alliance rejected the allegations and refused to cooperate.
Chow, Tang and another core member of the alliance were convicted in a separate case in 2023 for failing to provide authorities with information on the group and were each sentenced to 4 1/2 months in prison. But the trio overturned their convictions at the city’s top court in March 2025.
Beijing said the 2020 security law was necessary for the city’s stability following the 2019 protests, which sent hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets.
The same law has convicted dozens of other leading pro-democracy activists, including pro-democracy former media mogul Jimmy Lai last month. Dozens of civil society groups have closed since the law took effect.
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