A Hong Kong court on Friday convicted Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung of inciting subversion. The two activists organized annual vigils to commemorate Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen crackdown as leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance.
The case was viewed as a significant test of freedom of expression in the Chinese city. A third defendant, Albert Ho, pleaded guilty in January.
Chow, 41, a Cambridge-educated lawyer, represented herself at trial and told the court that seeking justice for Tiananmen victims was a moral duty that "should not be classified as incitement to commit a crime." She told judges that "no matter how omnipotent the (Chinese) Communist Party's leadership may be, it cannot dictate our conscience." Chow said the Alliance had no enemies but opposed one-party rule, invoking Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo during closing submissions.
Lee, 69, has been engaged in Hong Kong's labour movement and human rights work in China since the 1970s. He was in Beijing during the June 4, 1989 crackdown and told the court the experience made him realize that advancing democracy was his "lifelong commitment." He told judges repeatedly that "ending one-party rule does not mean ending the Communist Party's leadership," saying he had hoped the party would reform to give people the rights and happiness they deserved.
Ho, 74, is a lawyer-turned-politician who led Hong Kong's now-dissolved Democratic Party and helped found the Alliance. His legal practice worked on human rights issues for decades. Prosecutors cited a 2018 statement in which Ho said that in a democratic China, one-party rule would have to end, though this "doesn't mean eliminating the Communist Party, it has the right to join elections."
