In a post on Chinese social media dated August 26, 2020, the China Coast Guard claimed that Guangdong authorities had intercepted a speedboat on August 23 under the suspicion of illegal border crossing, and that more than ten people had been detained. The released coordinates put the incident in the South China Sea, approximately 78 kilometres (48 mi) from Hong Kong Island. On August 27, The Guardian cited two Hong Kong news outlets which reported, based on unnamed sources, that in the incident, a total of 12 people had been detained en route to Taiwan, of whom at least ten were Hong Kong residents. Referring to the same sources, the passengers had included activist Andy Li, who had been arrested on August 10 under charges related to the national security law and released on bail. Hong Kong police chief Chris Tang told media on August 27 that he had heard the reports on the detention, and that the force was actively seeking information from the mainland authorities. [1]
Chinese authorities only released scant information on the situation of the detainees. On September 13, Chinese authorities announced that the detained had been brought to the Yantian Detention Centre in Shenzhen and put under "compulsory criminal detention". [2] In a Twitter message from the same day, mainland government spokesperson Hua Chunying referred to the detainees as "elements" who had intended to separate Hong Kong from mainland China. Authorities repeatedly denied the detainees access to their families' appointed lawyers. Detention authorities claimed that the detainees had accepted government-appointed lawyers, which was denied by the families. [3] Secretary of Security John Lee implied in statements made around that time that the Hong Kong government would not interfere with mainland law enforcement in the case. [4] [5]
On December 16, Yantian District authorities announced that a trial hearing was to be held in which the two oldest detainees, Quinn Moon and Tang Kai-yin, would be prosecuted for organising others to cross the border illegally, and eight prosecuted for crossing the border illegally. A trial hearing for the two underage defendants would be closed off to the public; [6] they were returned to Hong Kong police on December 28, where they were facing extra charges for allegedly absconding. [7]
At a December 28 trial – where no relatives, Hong Kong media, or foreign ambassador representatives were allowed to audit the hearing, contrary to what the court said [8] –, eight of the ten defendants of age were sentenced to seven months of prison terms for illegal border crossing. [9] Quinn Moon and Tang Kai-yin were sentenced to terms of two and three years, respectively. [10] The eight defendants of age were returned to Hong Kong police on March 22, 2021. They were held in quarantine upon arrival while local courts began hearings on their cases, with Andy Li being charged under the national security law. [11]
The incident gained attention in Hong Kong and internationally, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo releasing a press statement on September 11 in which he expressed his concern both about the detainees' welfare as well as their lack of access to family-appointed lawyers. [12] In late December, the European Union demanded fair trials and the release of the 12 detainees. [13]
In its initial notice, the Guangdong Coast Guard released only the surnames of two of the detainees, Li and Tang, but no other information about names. The South China Morning Post reported that activist Andy Li was the Li referred to. [14] [15] As the full names were first published by pro-Beijing media Wen Wei Po, even some family members had doubts about their veracity. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Security Bureau said that it had received advice from its mainland counterpart that the ages of the detainees ranged from 16 to 33. [15] As of October 3, no one from Hong Kong has confirmed their identities. [16] Two of the detained have British National Overseas passports, while a third has Hong Kong and Portuguese permanent residencies. [17]
These events were speculated by various newspapers, as not much information has been released or could be verified.
Although the capture happened on August 23, no information was released to the public by the Chinese coastguards until August 26. [34] The social media post on August 26 only mentioned the GPS location, the time of arrest, and the number of Hong Kong residents detained. [16]
On August 28, details about the presumed detainees were released to the public by Wen Wei Po , citing "unnamed sources". [35] According to Radio Free Asia, the arrestees were presumably charged of "unlawful border crossing (into China territories)" and are currently in custody in mainland China. [36] The media-published (not officially published by authorities) arrestee names include several Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, some of whom were earlier charged with protest-related crimes by the Hong Kong Police, and one under the new national security law.[ citation needed ]
According to state-affiliated newspapers, the 12 individuals set out at around 7am on August 23 from a dock located in eastern Hong Kong's Sai Kung. It is reported that they originally planned to reach Taiwan-controlled Pratas, also known as Dongsha Island, then change ship to reach Pingtung County. They were stopped and captured at around 9am at alleged GPS location (21°54'00''N, 114°53'00''E ), a location, if factually stated by Chinese authorities, that is technically not owned by China, but within its contiguous zone. [37] [38] [39]
Hong Kong Police denied any cooperation with Chinese authorities in the arrest. [40]
The Hong Kong Security Bureau confirmed having received information relating to the detainees from the Chinese government. The bureau promised to assist family members and detainees. [41]
In Guangdong, the province of China where the coastguards were based, the public safety division and a spokesman of the provincial authorities declined to provide more details. [42]
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a press conference that the Hong Kong government would do its part to protect Hong Kong citizens, but if illegal activities occurred in another judiciary region, Hong Kong could not intervene. [43]
The human rights lawyers Lu Siwei and Ren Quanniu, who had been appointed by the detainee's family members, were denied meeting access. Both of them reported that Chinese officials had attempted to dissuade them from pursuing the case. [12] [44]
After the detainees' family press conference from the day before, in which they had pleaded for intervention by the Hong Kong government and possible extradition, Yantian detention center officially confirmed, for the first time, that the 12 detainees were indeed located in Yantian. [45] [46] Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying publicly stated on Twitter that the 12 detainees were criminals trying to "separate Hong Kong from China", a more serious allegation than the "illegal border crossing", and a crime punishable under the Hong Kong national security law. [47] [48] The Hong Kong government reaffirmed its stance not to interfere with China's jurisdiction, claiming that the relevant crime "falls within the jurisdiction of the mainland and the special administrative region government respects and will not interfere with law enforcement actions." [49]
Secretary of Security John Lee acknowledged in a TVB interview that Hong Kong authorities had only been informed of the capture five days after, and claimed that all 12 detainees were in good health. He further claimed that the detainees had already chosen their lawyers provided by China. [50] Separately on a radio interview, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said that "Hong Kong’s Immigration Department, and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong had communicated with the families 80 times since the arrests" but claimed that their hands were tied. [51]
The Hong Kong government issued a press release informing the public that the 12 detainees were now approved to be "arrested". [52] Hong Kong Police also released a report with some data such as speed and coordinates of the boat to clarify the public's concern. [53] According to criminal law in China, the maximum number of days of detention before sending them to the normal criminal court process –a certain form of incommunicado detention –or release on bail is 37 days. [54] [55]
At the end of the 37-day legal limit for detention without further action, two of the 12 were formally charged with organizing smuggling and the remaining 10 individuals were charged with "illegal border crossing". [56]
Hong Kong police arrested a group of nine people who allegedly had provided financial and other assistance to the detainees before their voyage, and for after their arrival in Taiwan. [57]
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam made clear that she "no longer wish[es] to discuss matters related to these 12 individuals" when asked by a journalist in a press conference on that day about her effort to safeguard the 12 individuals as she was set to meet with Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping in Shenzhen. [58] [59] [60]
A request in the Legislative Council to put the 12 detainees on the next meeting agenda, and to have Security Secretary John Lee report on the situation of the detainees as well as the support given to them and their families, was voted down by the pro-Beijing majority. [61]
Activists familiar with the matter told reporters in a group chat that at least five family-appointed lawyers had received verbal warnings from various levels of Chinese justice bureaus to drop the work for their clients. Prior to this, on October 22, five family-appointed lawyers had visited the detention centre but were again refused entry on the grounds that the detainees had already been assigned two lawyers; family-appointed lawyer Lu Siwei suspected that these might be government-appointed. [62]
It was reported that seven out of the 12 detainees had written letters to their families, with the earliest dated October 13. There were suspicions that the handwritten letters, which stressed that the detainees were treated well, had been dictated by authorities. [63]
Police in the Yantian district of Shenzhen said in a posting on Weibo that they had completed their investigation into the case of the 12 detainees, and that they would be sent to the Yantian District People's Procuratorate for "examination and prosecution". [64] There has not been a visit granted since the capture. [65]
The Chinese government released the names of the now-confirmed detainees' names along with the charges the government was pressing. It said that the two underage detainees' trials would not be open to the public. [6]
Chinese government officials advised the family members that trials would begin three days later, on December 28. [66]
At the trial of 10 of the 12 detainees, staff maintained that it was open to the public, but immediately followed this with the advice that the gallery was full. On these grounds, representatives from the United States (which had applied for an audit in accordance with established procedures [67] ), the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Portugal, Australia and the Netherlands were denied access to the hearing. [68] Eight of the ten defendants of age were sentenced to seven months of prison terms for illegal border crossing. [9] The two oldest detainees, Quinn Moon and Tang Kai-yin were sentenced to terms of two and three years, respectively. [10]
Two defendants aged 17 and 18 years were returned to Hong Kong by mainland authorities. The Yantian People's district court said that they had admitted wrongdoing, and that it would not persecute them. [69]
The eight activists of age were returned to Hong Kong police on March 22 and charged by local courts. It was announced on March 24 that security law charges had been laid against Andy Li. [11] The Apple Daily reported on March 28 that according to its sources, Li had been transferred to solitary confinement at a psychiatric hospital. [70] On March 30, a lawyer representing Li appeared in West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts, with Li absent as he was still in quarantine isolation. An associate of the lawyer confirmed that they had met Li, but did not disclose information on Li's whereabouts. The family asserted that they had no knowledge of the lawyer. [71]
On April 5, 2021, after completing a two-week quarantine period in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, five of the activists who had been handed back by mainland authorities appeared in a court in Sha Tin over local charges in relation to the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. They did not apply for bail and were to appear again in court the following month. [72]
On September 2, 2021, eight of the activists, including the two who had been transferred to Hong Kong on December, appeared in court on charges of trying to pervert the course of justice. It was reported that one of them intended to plead guilty. [73] Six of them pleaded guilty in relation to the same charge in July 2022. [74]
After completing her two-year jail term in mainland China, Quinn Moon returned to Hong Kong in August 2022; that same month, she was charged by Hong Kong authorities with perverting the course of justice through her escape attempt, and with possession of dangerous drugs, as 2.98 grams of cannabis had been found in her possession on January 14, 2020. [75]
After 20 days with no news, six of the 12 families held a joint press conference with the help of politicians Owen Chow, Eddie Chu, and James To. The families denounced the Hong Kong government's reluctant approach to assist and the government's refusal to meet with the families. As they sought international support to put pressure on China to follow international human rights protocols, they also asked the Hong Kong government to help negotiate their demands with the Chinese government. [76] The four demands include allowing prescribed medications to be delivered and safely administered to the detainees, allowing phone calls of detainees with families, declining "state-mandated lawyers" assigned by Chinese government, and releasing these individuals to Hong Kong for a fair trial. [77]
Families of the detainees continued to accuse the Hong Kong government as it had "only shirked responsibility and confused the public with mere excuses". [78] Family members asked the Hong Kong government to provide clear and accurate evidence of the maritime radar location, and a recent photo of each detainee, in order to let the captured know the families had appointed lawyers for them. [79]
Four family members along with several lawmakers went to the Hong Kong Liaison Office to petition. They accused the Hong Kong government of lying to the public, and asked that Security Secretary and Chief Secretary for Administration to allow meetings of the detainees with the families. To date, six lawyers have withdrawn from the case, 13 lawyers were pressured by the Chinese government not to take up the case, and 10 other lawyers were denied access to the detainees. [80]
Detainees' families continue to try to reach officials at Yantian detention center. Authorities refused meeting requests and claimed that all detainees have been appointed lawyers. Family lawyers further raised concerns about the legality of "state-appointed" lawyers to the only underage detainee. [81]
Family members and supporters released blue and white balloons written with the detainees' names and well-wishing messages at a peak on Kat O island, an island still within Hong Kong territory but close to Shenzhen's Yantian detention center. [82] Hong Kong coastguards later arrived and alleged violation of social gathering ordinance. [83]
After the alleged letters penned by the detainees arrived to their Hong Kong families, today the families held a press conference claiming that they received phone calls from self-proclaimed "lawyers of the detainees". The Mandarin-speaking callers allegedly asked family members for details of the detainees' Hong Kong arrest and charges, and not to mention the names of the "government-appointed lawyers". [84]
On September 2, a Sha Tin District representative initiated a Google Form petition pleading that the Hong Kong government made sure the 12 detainees be released and returned to Hong Kong, citing precarious human rights practices by the Chinese authorities and the scarcity of information. [85] [86] On the same day, another Hong Kong citizen started a White House petition that gained more than 100,000 signatures to bring awareness of this incident to the United States.
Netizens started a hashtag "#save12hkyouths", hoping to spread the awareness of the "black-box operation" of Chinese government to social media. [87]
Throughout the month of September, over a hundred Hong Kong district representatives set up street booths to raise awareness of these 12 individuals. Police often interfered. [88] [89]
Beginning September 22, students from University of Hong Kong set up booths as they returned to the campus to bring awareness of the incident and collect well-wishes postcards. [86] On October 1, as Hong Kong residents celebrated the annual mid-autumn festival, district representatives and various pro-democracy group set up street booths to voice their support of the detainees. [90]
On October 2, a few Hong Kong supporters hiked for two hours to reach the top of Lion Rock, a symbolic Hong Kong mountain top, to showcase a "Save 12" neon-light sign. [91]
On October 7, a vertical protest banner was unfurled on Kowloon Peak with the phrase "Unlawful Detainment; Release the 12" (「禁錮無理 釋放12子」). [92] Meanwhile, Hong Kong citizens continued to bring awareness by putting out posters and banners. [93]
A virtual rally by the "Save 12 Hong Kong Youths" concern group on October 25, livestreamed over Facebook, had almost 320,000 viewers joining. In his opening statement, activist Owen Chow suggested that Hong Kong authorities had conspired with their mainland counterparts to send Hongkongers to China. [94] Previously on October 6, the city's Chief Executive Carrie Lam had ruled out any involvement by Hong Kong police in the interception. [95]
Hong Kong district councillors and activist group Student Politicism have been holding street booths to raise awareness of the detainment. On October 27 police fined and ticketed several people at a street booth in Tsuen Wan, [96] and on December 2 police arrested the same group at a booth in Mong Kok, citing "disorderly conduct". [97]
In addition to holding street booths in the city, on October 27 it was also discovered that the words "FREE HK SAVE 12" were painted on the helicopter pad of Tai Mei Tuk country park. [98] [99]
At the one-year anniversary memorial of Siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Siege of the Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong citizens put together a "SAVE 12" sign using locks on a wired fence outside of Polytechnic University. The locks have the 12 presumed detainees' names and messages such as "send them home" written on them. [100]
During Chinese University's graduation ceremony graduates displayed a giant "SAVE 12 HK" black banner on school building. They also hold cards with "SAVE12" and released black balloons with the words "SAVE12". [101] [102] [103]
On November 30, the 100th day of detention, League of Social Democrats held street booths and petitions for two days in Causeway Bay. They also marched to the Central post office with their "SAVE 12" signage and postcards written by citizens. [104] and Amnesty International also posted a statement urging China to release the 12 detainees. [105] At night, Hong Kong citizens raised a neon-light "SAVE 12" sign on Lion Rock to show their support and continue to bring awareness. [106]
On December 10, also known as international Human Rights Day, chairman and vice-chairman of pro-democracy League of Social Democrats protested outside of Chinese Liaison office, chanting "Save 12" and holding signs. [107]
Hong Kong activists and supporters in London held a "one year commemoration" of the university sieges on December 12. Many participants held "SAVE12HKYOUTHS" signs and folded origami boats to bring awareness of the detainment. [108]
Portuguese Consul-General for Macao and Hong Kong confirmed that one of the detainees, surnamed Kok, has Portuguese citizenship from his Macau ties, but the consulate stressed that it would only provide humanitarian assistance, and not legal support, to Kok. [109]
Isabel Santos, a Portuguese politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament, had requested the Chinese government for a visit to Kok. [110]
On September 12, US Secretary of Sate Mike Pompeo expressed "grave concern" about the situation and questioned "Chief Executive Lam’s stated commitment to protecting the rights of Hong Kong residents, and call on authorities to ensure due process". [111] The next day U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus tweeted the arrests were “another example of the deterioration of human rights in Hong Kong”, and urged China to “ensure due process”. [112]
On October 13, US State Secretary Michael Pompeo defended the 12 Hong Kong residents in the virtual award speech, saying that they had "committed no crime" but were detained by China while allegedly fleeing Hong Kong for Taiwan. Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law praised IRI for its continued support for Hong Kong's political freedom, and called upon all freedom-loving countries to resist Chinese authoritarianism. [113] [114]
While many protesters who had fled Hong Kong for Taiwan since the LegCo storming in July 2019 later returned to Hong Kong, activists have put the number of those remaining in Taiwan as of June 2020 at over 200. [115] When asked by media about Hong Kong residents seeking asylum in Taiwan by boat, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang stated that "the government cared deeply about people from Hong Kong" but in regard to "the help to Hong Kong people, certain individual cases we cannot reveal". [116] [117] Mainland Affairs Council also discouraged any means to entry Taiwan by illegal methods. [118]
Italian pro-democracy political group Radicali Italiani organized a 12-day event beginning on October 12 throughout Italy to bring awareness of the 12 Hong Kong residents captured by Chinese coastguards for over 50 days and incommunicado. In addition, a member of the group began a 12-day hunger strike to protest against the detainment. [119] [120]
Among the 12 presumed detainees four of them hold British National Overseas (BNO) passports. On October 13, the British Parliament held a discussion on Hong Kong. Parliament member Nigel Adams stated that while the UK government had already reached out to Chinese government regarding the rights of these four individuals, the Chinese government "absolutely would not grant UK consular access" because China does not recognize dual citizenship and BNOs-entitled consular assistance is not granted in Hong Kong, Macau or mainland China. [121] On October 21, over 60 Parliament members urged Foreign Minister Dominic Raab to make it a "diplomatic priority" to pressure Carrie Lam and his Beijing counterpart to release the 12 activists. [122] [123] Raab responded several days later that UK officials have reached out to the BNO-owned families and has been pressing the issue on several occasions already and would continue to press for transparency. [124]
On November 16, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, received an open letter penned by 25 Canadian cross party parliamentarians urging the Canadian official to "call on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and [Champagne's] counterpart in Beijing to immediately ensure the return of the twelve activists to Hong Kong, to guarantee that they have legal representation of their choosing, contact with their families, and to ensure the young people access to necessary prescribed medication." [125]
On December 2, the 100th day of the capture with zero contact from the detainees, over 150 parliamentarians from 18 different countries jointly called on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to intercede and "ensure that they are guaranteed justice”. [126] The signatories, according to organization Hong Kong Watch, include Parliamentarians from "Australia, Canada, Denmark, EU, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Sweden, Uganda, UK, and USA". [127]
On October 1, 2020, groups of protesters appeared in front of London's Chinese embassy with signs demanding the release of the 12 detainees. [128]
Since early October, various international figures such as Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg [129] and artist, cartoonist and rights activist Badiucao have held up "#Save12HKYouth" in social media to help bring awareness to the 12 detainees. [130] The campaign was initiated by human rights organization Hong Kong Watch, and it termed this detainment as the "watershed case for Hong Kong" that will influence if extraditing pro-democracy activists to stand trial in the mainland would become a common occurrence. [131] [132]
Over the weekend from October 23–25, over 30 cities around the world had support events bringing awareness of these 12 detainees to the citizens and their local governments. [133] [134] [135]
Although Chinese coastguards released the GPS coordinates of the capture, there is no other substantial evidence to support its claim that the location was within Chinese borders. Although Hong Kong Police stated that there was no evidence to substantiate that Chinese coastguards had entered Hong Kong waters, [136] some Hong Kong fishermen[ who? ] reached out to Hong Kong lawyers said they witnessed the capture had been within Hong Kong territories. [137]
Whereas Hong Kong has had an internationally respected judiciary system, China has had its human rights violations documented internationally. [138] [139] The treatment of these 12 detainees has been a grave concern for many. [140] Even as these individuals are now "arrested" after over 30 days of detention, there is no clear indication when the prosecution and trial will take place. [141] Therefore, this uncertain entanglement may become prolonged imprisonment and an endlessly opaque human rights battle. [85] [19]
Ta Kung Pao published an article in its online edition on August 29, alleging that Hong Kong minister Chu Yiu-ming had, in cooperation with a Taiwanese pastor surnamed Huang, provided support for the attempted escape. In a reply issued in the same outlet, Chu denied this and accused the newspaper of having maliciously fabricated the story. [142]
On September 20, two families' members revealed to news reporters that they had separately gone to the police stations to report their missing sons on August 24, one day after the capture. While the missing person reports were not accepted by police, one policeman showed a record of the missing person's cellphone record to the family member, raising questions on how the records were obtained two days after the capture but three days before the news broke. The other family member was told that the son was now detained in Yantian, days before the detention location was reported by media. [143]
On October 5, it was reported that the Hong Kong Government Flying Service (GFS) had allegedly tracked the boat before it was captured. According to data from the flight tracking website FlightAware, an aircraft belonging to the GFS took off from the Hong Kong International Airport at 4:19 am on August 23 and circled around Sai Kung until 7:00 am, which was when the 12 detainees allegedly departed from Sai Kung. The aircraft then travelled towards southeastern Hong Kong waters at 7:30 am, which also coincides with the time the 12 detainees allegedly crossed the southeastern Hong Kong boundary. The legislator Jeremy Tam, who has also worked as a pilot, pointed out that it was very likely that the GFS aircraft was conducting surveillance on the boat, and that the Hong Kong Government may have provided information of the speedboat to Mainland law enforcement. Chief Executive Carrie Lam had ruled out any involvement by Hong Kong police in the interception of the twelve, stating that she believed "a tiny fraction of people" had not given up on "any opportunity to smear the Hong Kong government, to attack the police, to fabricate this and that". [95]
Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre or Kowloon Mosque is one of five main mosques in Hong Kong. Located in Kowloon, in the Tsim Sha Tsui area at the intersection of Nathan Road and Haiphong Road, beside Kowloon Park, this mosque is currently the largest in Hong Kong. The mosque holds five prayers daily and is capable of accommodating up to 3,500 people.
In general, there is relatively little Internet censorship in Hong Kong beyond laws that criminalize the distribution of unlicensed copyrighted material and obscene images, particularly child pornography when compared to the rest of China. The Hong Kong Bill of Rights elaborates on these and other rights enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong.Although Hong Kong law provides freedom of speech and press, and freedom of expression is protected by the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, the Hong Kong national security law gives the government the power "take down any electronic messages published" that the government considers to endanger national security. The government has blocked several anti-government, doxxing or politically sensitive websites after the commencement of the law, leading to increased concerns of Internet censorship in Hong Kong.
The 2022 Hong Kong Chief Executive election was held on 8 May 2022 for the 6th term of the Chief Executive (CE), the highest office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Incumbent Carrie Lam, who was elected in 2017, will finish her term on 30 June 2022 after announcing that she would not be seeking a second term for family reasons. Former Chief Secretary John Lee is the sole candidate approved by the central government of China in the election and the only candidate to be nominated. He was approved with 1,416 electoral votes.
The 2019 Prince Edward station attack, also known as the 31 August MTR station incident, was an incident in which Hong Kong police indiscriminately attacked passengers while arresting protesters who were returning home via Prince Edward station, on the night of 31 August 2019, after a protest was held that same day. The event was described as the police version of the 2019 Yuen Long attack, and the police have been criticised as acting like terrorists. Rumours have been circulated that several protesters were beaten to death at the station, but the police have rejected allegations. However, a mourning vigil was set up by a group of residents outside one exit of the station.
This is a list of protests in January 2020 that were part of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. The protests continued to be buoyed up by the success of the pan-democrats at the November 2019 District Council Elections, but also continued to feel the effects of the mass arrests at the November 2019 siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. With the notable exceptions of protests on New Year's Day and on 19 January, protests remained smaller-scale but took place almost every day. It appeared that police, under its new chief Chris Tang, had changed its tactics to round up violent protesters early, aiming to avoid the spiralling into evening violence that had occurred in many of the earlier protests.
The month of July 2020 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests began with a turning point in the evolution of the protests, brought about by the Hong Kong national security law. The law, which had been passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China on 30 June and come into effect on the same day, was widely seen as having the purpose of curbing opposition, in a broad sense, against the Chinese Communist Party in the city. The law had direct relevance to the protests, as it prescribes harsh penalties for the tactics that protesters had commonly used. Nevertheless, sizeable protests erupted throughout the city on occasion of the 1 July protests the next day, resulting in about 370 arrests, including at least ten on charges under the new law. The Hong Kong government, faced with the task of implementing a law that had been drafted and promulgated without substantial involvement by its own officials, was seen widely, including in the academic and media sectors, as being unable to draw a clear demarcation line between which acts would constitute punishable offences under the law, and which would not. The vagueness of the law, while refused by the city's police chief, was seen by pro-democrats and observers as a deliberate device to amplify its deterrence effect.
Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam is a Hong Kong social activist and former reporter of the now defunct news outlet Stand News, who rose to prominence for her frontline reporting in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. In June 2020, she announced her candidature in the 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries, in which she obtained a nomination ticket in the general election that was later postponed. For her participation, she was arrested in January 2021 along with over 50 other pro-democrats on national security charges and was remanded in custody. In December 2021, she received a sentence of six months in relation to her role in a banned protest during the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in June 2020.
Cheng Tat-hung is a Hong Kong politician, formerly affiliated with the Civic Party. He is a former member of the Eastern District Council for Tanner since 2016 to 2021.
The month of August 2020 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests saw only sparse and relatively small protests, mainly due to the city going through a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and an outdoor gathering ban on groups of more than two people. As the impact of the Hong Kong National Security Law on the city became increasingly evident, and additionally in response to acts by representatives of the local and mainland governments throughout the protests, Western democracies continued to voice sharp criticism and implemented sanctions against China, with the United States imposing sanctions on 11 Hong Kong officials on 7 August. These developments supported the opinion expressed by former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind in late June that the protests had morphed from a mostly local dispute into an international one.
The offices of Apple Daily, once the largest pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong, and its parent company, Next Digital, were raided and executives arrested by the Hong Kong Police Force on 10 August 2020 and again on 17 June 2021. Some of the arrested and three companies of Next Digital were charged under the Hong Kong national security law. The 26-year-old newspaper was forced to close in June 2021 following the raids and freezing of its capital.
On 6 September, the biggest protests in the course of the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests since 1 July occurred in the city. The fresh protests were in a large part due to the day having been the scheduled election day for the Legislative Council; on 31 July, the Hong Kong government had the elections postponed by a year, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, a justification that was widely doubted. The unauthorized protests resulted in nearly 300 arrests, one of them on suspected violation of the national security law, and brought the total number of arrests during the entire protests since June 2019 to above 10,000.
The written traditional Chinese characters for vertical banners are "直幡", and the horizontal counterpart, horizontal banners, are written as "横額" in traditional Chinese. This article focuses on the use of vertical banners as protest banners in Hong Kong.
Finn Lau is a political activist from Hong Kong known for popularising a protesting strategy coined "Lam Chau" and being the founder of Hong Kong Liberty and Stand with Hong Kong. He was previously only known as the LIHKG user with the username “I want Lam Chau“. On 5 October 2020, he publicized his real identity as Finn Lau and announced that he, as the founder of both teams, would split Hong Kong Liberty and Stand with Hong Kong. The two organizations are currently operating separately.
2021 Hong Kong Charter is a charter initiated by Hongkongers Nathan Law, Ted Hui, Baggio Leung, Sunny Cheung, Ray Wong, Brian Leung, Glacier Kwong, and Alex Chow, who went into self-exile abroad after Hong Kong national security law became effective. Its purpose is to unite Hongkongers around the world.
On 10 August 2020, Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow was arrested by Hong Kong police under Hong Kong national security law. Her arrest caused widespread controversy in the international community.
A suicide attack took place at approximately 22:10 on 1 July 2021, in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. 50-year-old Leung Kin-fai approached a Police Tactical Unit (PTU) police officer from behind and stabbed him, injuring the officer's scapula and piercing his lung, before Leung committed suicide by stabbing his own heart. Leung was immediately subdued by surrounding police, arrested and sent to hospital. He died at 23:20.
The Sixth District Councils of Hong Kong is the current meeting of the local councils of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. The membership of the Council is based on the 2019 election. The term of the session is from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023. The pro-democracy camp in conjunction with the localist groups achieved its biggest landslide victory in the history of Hong Kong, gaining absolute majority in votes and electoral seats in all of the 18 District Councils. The election was widely viewed as a de facto referendum on the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
On 29 December 2021, Stand News, one of the few remaining pro-democracy media outlets in Hong Kong following the passage of the Hong Kong national security law in 2020, was raided by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force. Media executives and journalists were arrested on the charge of "conspiring to publish seditious publications" on a large scale. As a result of the raid, Stand News ceased operations, the organisation's website and social media became inactive, and all its employees were dismissed. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, along with leaders in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and United States, condemned the raid.
Carol Ng Man-yee is a Hong Kong political figure, former chairman of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, and former member of the Labour Party. She has been actively involved in labor movements over the years, including the "Baggage Gate" incident and the establishment of the British Airways Union. She ran in the 2020 pro-democracy primaries for the Labour Party, losing in the New Territories West constituency. Ng was arrested on 6 January 2021, accused of violating the Hong Kong national security law, after participating in the 2020 Legislative Council primary election, and has been remanded in custody since the end of February.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty |title=
(help)