In November, Hong Kong’s national security police made several arrests related to the fatal blaze that tore through a housing estate in Tai Po and the “patriots only” Legislative Council (LegCo) elections. Those arrested included a university student, a former district councillor, and an elderly man.
Following the fire, Beijing’s national security office issued a warning against “anti-China disruptors,” saying they would try to co-opt the tragedy to “incite resentment” against the Hong Kong government.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang announced that he intended to declare two overseas political groups as “prohibited organisations” under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance – commonly known as Article 23. A woman, 19, was jailed for a year over links to one of the groups.
HKFP rounds up national security-related news from last month.
Student nabbed after calling for accountability in Tai Po fire
University student Miles Kwan was reportedly arrested on suspicion of sedition on November 29, a day after he launched a petition calling for government accountability over the deadly Tai Po fire.
The fire at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing estate undergoing renovation in Tai Po, broke out on November 26, engulfing seven of the eight residential towers. It took firefighters more than 43 hours to largely extinguish the fire.
According to the latest official figures, at least 160 people were killed in the inferno – the most lethal blaze in Hong Kong since 1948. Six others are still unaccounted for.
Two days after the fire erupted, Kwan and his friends created a petition, calling on the authorities to respond to “four demands”: government accountability, an independent probe into possible corruption, proper settlement of displaced residents, and a review of construction oversight.
Kwan, a Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) student studying government and public administration, said the petition was a response to the government’s move to accelerate the replacement of bamboo scaffolding with metal following the blaze.
On November 28, Kwan – along with two friends who declined to be named or photographed – distributed flyers for the “Tai Po Wang Fuk Court Fire Concern Group” with a link to the Change.org petition.
“We think this is actually spinning Hongkongers away from the real question, that is, the real institution,” he told reporters as he handed out the flyers outside Tai Po MTR Station. “The whole institution is already broken down.”
The following day, local media reported, citing unnamed sources, that Kwan had been arrested on suspicion of sedition for allegedly using the fire to incite hatred against authorities.
Police did not confirm the arrest of Kwan in an emailed reply to HKFP, only saying that they “will take actions according to actual circumstances and in accordance with the law.”
The Instagram page for the four demands and the petition link are no longer accessible, according to an HKFP check.
Beijing’s nat. security office warns against ‘anti-China disruptors’
On the evening of November 29, Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong warned “anti-China disruptors” that they would be punished under the city’s security law should they try to co-opt the fire to “incite resentment” against the city’s government.
According to a statement issued by the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), “anti-China disruptors” and those with “ulterior motives” are still awaiting opportunities to cause chaos.
The anti-China disruptors seek to manipulate the grief of victims to advance their political ambitions, it warned.
“Their aim is to plunge Hong Kong back into the chaos of the ‘legislative amendment turmoil’ and revive the darkest days of ‘black violence,’” the OSNS also said, in an apparent reference to the 2019 protests and unrest, which were sparked by an extradition bill.
“We warn those anti-China elements who seek to exploit disasters to sow chaos in Hong Kong: no matter what tactics you employ, you will inevitably face the full force of the Hong Kong National Security Law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance,” the office added.
The OSNS statement was published hours after police ordered volunteers at Kwong Fuk Estate, next to the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Estate, to vacate a makeshift supply station set up at a podium of the public housing estate.
A grassroots relief effort sprang to life shortly after the fire hit as Hongkongers rallied to help, offering food, shelter and clothing to victims. The government planned to replace volunteer efforts with a centralised online platform to coordinate public relief efforts.
Meanwhile, in the early hours of November 29, state-backed paper Wen Wei Po reported that the Hong Kong police’s National Security Department was “highly concerned” about relief efforts being hijacked by “black violence.”
The Wen Wei Po report also said that Chief Superintendent Steve Li of the National Security Department surveyed the volunteer station the previous day, suggesting that his appearance could be a “powerful deterrent to lawbreakers.”
Ex-district councillor, volunteer arrested
On November 30, Hong Kong national security police reportedly arrested a former district councillor and a volunteer handling supplies for victims of the deadly Tai Po fire for sedition.
Both are alleged to have incited hatred of the government.
Former Tuen Mun district councillor Kenneth Cheung was arrested at his home in Fanling at around 7pm.
An unidentified volunteer handling supplies for victims of the Tai Po fire was also apprehended, local media reported.
Woman, 19, jailed for 1 year for sedition
A 19-year-old woman, Lan Fei, was sentenced to one year behind bars for sedition on November 13, after she pleaded guilty to having appeared in two videos for a Canada-based group that authorities deem subversive.
Lan appeared in two videos dated April and May this year, promoting the election for the Hong Kong Parliament. She was paid CA$100 (HK$500) for each of her appearances, in which she called on viewers to “reclaim the rights” that belong to Hong Kong people.
Chief Magistrate Victor So, a designated national security judge, said that Lan, by encouraging others to participate in the polls organised by the Hong Kong Parliament, had “endorsed and aligned herself with the radical and ill-conceived ideology” of the group.
So also noted that the two videos combined had reached over 900,000 views on the YouTube channel of wanted activist Elmer Yuen, who faces a HK$1 million bounty for his arrest on national security charges.
However, he accepted the defence’s plea that Lan was acting under the “undue influence” of her ex-boyfriend Tony Lam, 37, who is also among those wanted by the city’s national security police.
Gov’t mulls banning 2 overseas groups
The government said on November 24 that it was considering invoking the homegrown security law for the first time to ban two overseas political groups they deem subversive from operating in the city.
The two groups are the Canada-based Hong Kong Parliament and the Taiwan-based Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union.
The Security Bureau said in a statement that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that it would be necessary for safeguarding national security to prohibit” the two groups from operating in Hong Kong.
The two organisations were informed in writing and were given time to respond before the bans came into effect, the bureau said.
“The two organizations in question aim to subvert state power. Their objectives include promoting ‘self-determination,’ making the ‘Hong Kong Constitution,’ and overthrowing or undermining the basic system of the People’s Republic of China,” it added.
During a press briefing, security chief Chris Tang said written notices had been sent to the two organisations, giving them one week to make their case.
He said the authorities had prosecuted members of the political groups in question, with one of the defendants sentenced to one year behind bars. Tang was referring to Lan, who was jailed earlier in November for sedition.
In July, Hong Kong authorities announced that 19 overseas activists were wanted for organising or participating in the Hong Kong Parliament, and placed HK$200,000 bounties on 15 of them for information leading to their arrests. The remaining four already had a HK$1 million bounty each on their heads for other alleged national security crimes.
In October, a 16-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit secession for his involvement in the Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union.
Under Article 23, if Hong Kong’s security chief declares a group a “prohibited organisation,” it will become illegal for anyone acting as an office-bearer or a member of the group in Hong Kong. Offenders face up to 14 years in jail and a maximum fine of HK$1 million.
Elderly man arrested for sedition
A 68-year-old man, Lam Chung-ming, was arrested on suspicion of publishing “seditious” social media posts and inciting people not to vote in the “patriots only” legislative elections, police said on November 18.
He is the owner of a social media account that shared posts inciting hatred towards the Hong Kong government, the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, Superintendent Chan On-ming of the Hong Kong Police Force’s National Security Department told reporters.
The suspect had allegedly been making such posts since September last year, and more recently, incited people not to vote or to cast blank votes in the December elections.
Lam was brought to West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on November 20 to face one count of “knowingly publishing publications that had a seditious intention.” He has been remanded in custody since.
Chief Magistrate So denied bail to Lam and ordered him to remain in detention pending his next court appearance on December 30.
2 nabbed over ‘seditious’ posts on pancake shop’s social media account
Police said on November 25 that they had apprehended a man, 32, and a woman, 27, on suspicion of publishing seditious materials on the social media account of a pancake shop.
The pair were also arrested on November 25 on suspicion of “assisting offenders” and “possession of dangerous drugs.”
According to police, the man allegedly repeatedly published social media posts with seditious intent using the account of his pancake shop, known as hk9cake, located in Kwai Chung Plaza. He also stands accused of funding activities endangering national security.
The police did not give details on the woman’s involvement.
Officers found a small amount of cannabis in the pair’s home in Kwai Chung. The police also obtained a court warrant to search the pancake shop and seized some cash and receipts.
According to the shop’s Instagram account, it regularly hired former inmates who served time for offences linked to the 2019 protests and unrest.
Court rejects Tiananmen activist’s bid to have charge quashed
On November 3, a court rejected an application by Tiananmen activist Chow Hang-tung to have the subversion charge against her quashed, saying prosecutors have adequately specified the allegations to ensure a fair trial.
A formal trial is scheduled for January 22.
Chow stands accused of inciting subversion alongside former lawmakers Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan. The trio are former leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, a group that organised decades of vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing.
The activist sought to have her charge quashed on the ground that the prosecution had failed to specify what constituted the “unlawful means” through which she and her co-defendants allegedly attempted to topple the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
A written judgment of the reasons for rejecting Chow’s bid will be handed down on January 21, one day before the formal trial is set to begin.
Top court denies Portuguese national’s final chance to appeal sentence
Joseph John, a Portuguese citizen jailed under the Beijing-imposed national security law, was denied a final chance to appeal for a shorter sentence at the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) on November 4.
John, also known as Wong Kin-chung, was jailed for five years in April 2024 after pleading guilty to conspiring to incite secession through social media posts.
He was the leader of the now-disbanded UK-based Hong Kong Independence Party.
The top court’s Appeal Committee deemed John’s application had no reasonable grounds.
John, the first dual citizen convicted and jailed under the 2020 national security law, failed in his attempts to challenge his five-year prison sentence at the lower Court of Appeal earlier this year.
‘Patriotic organisation’ sends threatening letter over merch sale for axed LGBTQ play
Award-winning playwright Candace Chong said that an anonymous “patriotic group” had sent a letter to pressure a company to halt the production and sale of merchandise for a cancelled LGBTQ-themed drama.
Sharing a photo of the letter on social media on November 23, Chong wrote: “Hong Kong Cultural Revolution.”
We Are Gay, a play written by Chong, tells the story of a love triangle between three men. It was set to run from November 28 to December 4 at the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD).
However, on October 18, merely hours before tickets went on sale, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) cancelled the play, saying it had received “a large number of complaints” that the play “promotes confrontation and defames Hong Kong.”
The production team behind the play had halted the performance but continued to sell the merchandise already produced.
The letter was written in simplified Chinese and signed “Enthusiastic patriotic organisation.” It suggested that the merchandise sale was an act of “opposing government actions and spreading anti-government sentiment.”
It urged the company, which was not identified in the letter nor Chong’s post, to “stop promoting ‘soft resistance’” – a vague term authorities have used to refer to national security threats.
According to the letter, the sender had filed reports about the company to national security authorities and informed state-backed newspapers Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po.
Hong Kong chides US report criticising nat. security crackdown
The Hong Kong government slammed an annual US report criticising the city’s national security crackdown on November 19, calling it “groundless attacks, slanders and smears.”
In the November 18 report, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) accused Beijing of having “dissolved the final vestiges of Hong Kong’s political freedom” and Hong Kong authorities of “intimidating [its] citizens to discourage them from engaging in open opposition.”
The USCC is an advisory panel that can recommend legislative and administrative action to the US Congress.
The city’s government called the USCC report a “wanton manoeuvre with politics” and “interference” in Hong Kong affairs.
It also accused the USCC of “double standards,” noting that the US has at least 21 pieces of national security legislation and “countless” administrative orders for security matters.
Bear mascot teaches kids about national security
The Hong Kong government turned to interactive dramas, workshops, and a “Security Bear” mascot to bolster national security education for kindergarten and primary school students.
The Security Bureau staged the premiere of the National Security Interactive School Drama – Campus Chef Challenge for primary school students at City Hall on November 11.
It was attended by security chief Tang, education minister Christine Choi, as well as around 400 guests, school principals, teachers and primary school students.
Film director Clifton Ko, who co-produced the interactive drama featuring the teddy bear, said that the 2019 protests were “a challenge to national security”.
Now, he said, “we are not just conveying a thematic message or explaining a law, we are healing the wounds we have endured.”
The government said the interactive drama – produced by Spring-Time Experimental Theatre and supported by the Education Bureau – would be performed in at least 20 primary schools across the city over the coming months.
The interactive drama followed the October 30 launch of the Andy & Bear KinderFest storytelling and games workshops, which the Security Bureau said would tour kindergartens across the city.
At the two launch events, Tang also encouraged the public to cast their votes at the December 7 “patriots only” legislative elections.
Prosecution and arrest figures
As of December 1, a total of 365 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. That figure includes those arrested under Article 23.
Of the 204 people and five companies that have so far been charged, 174 people and one company have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.
In total, 96 people and four companies have been charged under Beijing’s national security law, with 77 persons convicted. 11 people have been charged under Article 23, seven of whom have been convicted.
