Hong Kong protests: judge rules insulting city’s government ‘a challenge to Beijing’s authority’ as ex-radio host Tam Tak-chi found guilty under sedition law

Insulting or verbally abusing the Hong Kong government amounts to a challenge against Beijing’s authority, a judge has ruled in finding an opposition activist guilty of 11 charges in the city’s first sedition trial since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.

District Court Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi, hand-picked by the city’s leader to oversee national security proceedings, on Wednesday upheld the constitutionality of sedition offences under the Crimes Ordinance, saying they were compatible with other provisions in the mini-constitution, the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.

He also found that a rallying cry during the 2019 anti-government protests that called for Hong Kong’s “liberation” and a “revolution of our times” was capable of inciting others to separate the former British colony from Chinese soil – a ruling consistent with one handed down in the first national security law trial last year.