The month of September saw activist Nathan Law, who is wanted under Hong Kong’s security law, denied entry to Singapore over “national interests.”
Meanwhile, an appeals court denied a man jailed for five years for conspiring to incite secession through social media posts the chance to ask for a shorter sentence at the city’s top court.
Per new regulations, Hong Kong’s schools must now carry out national security checks for student activities conducted by external organisations to ensure they do not promote “political propaganda.”
HKFP rounds up national security-related news from last month.
Nathan Law barred from entering Singapore
Singapore cited “national interests” as the reason for denying entry to Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law in late September.
Law, who is wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police and has been in self-exile since 2020, said he was detained and questioned by Singaporean immigration authorities for four hours after arriving from San Francisco on September 27.
The former student leader said he had received a visa to enter Singapore three weeks prior and that he was scheduled to attend a “closed-door, invitation-only” event in the Southeast Asian city.
After spending roughly 14 hours in Singapore, Law – who holds a UK refugee passport – boarded a flight back to San Francisco on Sunday.
At his weekly press conference two days later, Hong Kong leader John Lee sidestepped a question about whether the city’s authorities had requested Singapore to extradite the wanted activist.
He said only that no country should harbour criminals and that the Hong Kong government “will strictly enforce the law.”
Nat. sec convict denied chance to appeal sentence
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal denied a man jailed under the Beijing-imposed national security law permission to appeal for a shorter sentence at the city’s top court.
Joseph John, a dual national of Hong Kong and Portugal, was sentenced to five years in prison in April 2024 after pleading guilty to conspiring to incite secession through social media posts.
John applied to launch a bid for a shorter sentence, with his lawyers arguing that jail terms for conspiracy offences should not be subject to the minimum length that general national security offences must abide by.
However, on September 5, a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeal shot down the argument, saying the sentencing mechanism still applies.
Schools to implement national security checks
The Education Bureau (EDB) released new guidelines stating that from the new academic year, schools should review activities held by external bodies to ensure they do not promote “political propaganda.”
The nature, background and identities of the organisers and guests must be scrutinised, the EDB said, so that students can be protected from “improper values” and “contents that endanger national security.”
National security-focused curriculum guidelines were introduced months after Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in June 2020. During the 2022 Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee announced patriotic education initiatives to enhance national identity.
Disbarring lawyer wanted under security law not political, body says
The Law Society of Hong Kong defended the decision to ban Australia-based lawyer and activist Kevin Yam from practising in Hong Kong over his call for foreign sanctions, saying the move was not based on political opinion.
Earlier, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal – which reviews solicitors for alleged misconduct and is independent from the Law Society – found a complaint against Yam “duly proved.”
In a September 1 statement, the Law Society said solicitors are bound to “uphold the integrity of the profession and the rule of law.”
“It is important to clarify that the Tribunal’s findings were based solely on professional conduct and not on any alleged criminal offence or political opinion,” the statement read.
Yam, a vocal Hong Kong pro-democracy lawyer, is one of 34 overseas-based activists wanted under the national security law.
Hong Kong authorities are offering a HK$1 million bounty for information related to the solicitor, who is accused of colluding with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security.
7 people cleared of terrorism charges
Seven people were cleared of alleged involvement in bomb plots that originated during the protests and unrest in 2019, following a trial that took over five months.
A panel of nine jurors unanimously acquitted the defendants on September 3 at the High Court.
Lukas Ho, Lee Ka-pan, Ng Tsz-lok, Yeung Yi-sze, Cheung Ka-chun, Cheung Cheuk-ki, and Rebecca Ho were accused of conspiring to commit bombing of prescribed objects in three bomb plots between November 2019 and March 2020.
Three of them – Lukas Ho, Lee, and Cheung Ka-chun – were convicted of the lesser charge of conspiring to cause an explosion of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property under the Crimes Ordinance.
The three bomb plots involved planting explosives at a site near the Lo Wu border crossing point; Caritas Medical Centre, a public hospital in Sham Shui Po; and a car park in Tseung Kwan O, where a memorial was planned for a student who fell to his death amid a clash between police and protesters in November 2019.
Ng was said to have written statements sent by a Telegram group called “92sign” claiming responsibility for the bomb plots at Caritas and near the Lo Wu checkpoint.
Cheung Pak-kit, a superintendent at the police force’s national security department, said after the verdicts were delivered on September 3 that 92sign was a “radical group” that began with making simple combustors, which then developed into homemade bombs with the potential to do grave damage.
Hong Kong rejects ‘unfounded’ EU report raising concerns about rule of law
Hong Kong rejected an “unfounded and biased” European Commission report, which said the rule of law in the city remained under “severe strain” in 2024 due to the implementation of national security legislation.
The report – published by the European Commission, the European Union’s (EU) main executive body, on September 8 – raised concerns about the outcomes of landmark national security court cases.
In a statement issued the following day, the Hong Kong government said it urged the EU to “respect facts” and to “immediately stop” interfering in the city’s affairs.
Prosecution and arrest figures
As of October 1, a total of 342 people had been arrested for “cases involving suspected acts or activities that endanger national security” since Beijing’s national security law came into effect, according to the Security Bureau. The number includes those arrested under Article 23.
Of the 199 people and five companies that have so far been charged, 169 people and one company have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.
Among them, 96 people and four companies have been charged under the national security law, with 76 convicted. Nine people have been charged under Article 23, six of whom have been convicted.
