Hong Kong is taking a page from Beijing’s playbook. Publicly questioning or challenging the government’s narratives or actions can be characterized as acts of sedition, and the government — the national security police — has no hesitation in cracking down on anyone doing so.
Hong Kong’s national security police has arrested Chinese University of Hong Kong student Miles Kwan (關靖豐) on suspicion of sedition. Kwan, together with a group of unidentified others, had set up the Tai Po Wang Fuk Court Fire Concern Group and launched a petition calling on the Hong Kong Government to address four demands in the aftermath of the inferno at the residential complex that killed at least 128 people (hongkongfp.com/2025/11/29/hon).
The group’s Instagram page and the petition link are no longer accessible.
The Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (OSNS) issued a statement on Nov 29 accusing “anti-China” and “malicious individuals” of spreading false information, attacking the government’s rescue efforts, inciting social division and stirring hatred against authorities and the chief executive (osns.gov.cn/20251129/30f52).
The maximum penalty for sedition is 7 years in prison, but if the offender is found to have colluded with an "external force" the maximum penalty will be 10 years of imprisonment.
hongkongfp.com/2025/11/30/hon
amp.scmp.com/news/hong-kong
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Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
the death toll climbs to 128; 79 injured… an unknown number of residents are still missing…
x.com/byron_wan/stat…