The Hong Kong National Front (HKNF)[c] is a political organisation that advocates the independence of Hong Kong from China. Originally based in Central,Hong Kong,it was forced to cease its activities in the city following the imposition of the Hong Kong national security law on 30 June 2020. The group currently operates in exile in Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Baggio Leung,a pro-independence politician who briefly served as a member of the Legislative Council in late 2016,joined the HKNF as its new spokesperson on 24 September 2018. He was the most high-profile politician to join the HKNF;he resigned from his position following the dissolution of the HKNF's Hong Kong branch.
On 20 July 2019,the Hong Kong Police Force raided a factory unit belonging to the HKNF's then convenor Louis Lo[a] and found a cache of high explosives. Lo was arrested along with two others and charged with possessing unlicensed explosives. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the High Court.
History
Before the 2019 protests
The Hong Kong National Front (HKNF) was founded by a small group of young activists in 2015.[1] It reportedly had a membership of 30 people in May 2018,[2] but by the end of the year the number of participants in its rallies had dropped to around 20.[1]
Baggio Leung,the convenor of the localist political party Youngspiration,announced on 24 September 2018 that he had joined the HKNF as its new spokesperson.[1][3] The announcement came an hour before the similarly-named Hong Kong National Party was banned by the Hong Kong government over "national security concerns",a decision which Leung expected.[1] Leung had briefly served as a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in late 2016;he was unseated for making inappropriate remarks against China during his oath of office.[1] The HKNF expressed its hope that Leung's membership would allow the HKNF and Youngspiration to better coordinate with each other and share resources.[3] It also described Leung's decision to join as an "important step toward moving the gears of [Hong Kong] history forward".[3] Leung reciprocated these sentiments in his own statement,saying:"[The Hong Kong independence camp] must show unity when it is being suppressed. I hope that by joining the HKNF I will allow [the HKNF] to continue its work."[3]
The HKNF's Facebook page was the target of a disinformation and harassment campaign in 2019. Facebook posts made by the HKNF received thousands of comments falsely accusing HKNF members of extreme violence and links to the United States' Central Intelligence Agency.[5]Steven Feldstein,an American researcher who previously worked for the U.S. State Department,attributed the campaign to the Chinese government.[5]
Explosives case
In the early morning hours of 20 July 2019,officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force raided a unit on the 20th floor of Lung Shing Factory Building in Tsuen Wan and found a cache of high explosives.[6] An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was subsequently dispatched and 1.5 kilograms (3.3lb) of TATP,[d] 10 incendiary devices,and several jugs of acid were seized.[7] According to police,bomb disposal experts then safely destroyed the TATP in a controlled explosion on the factory's rooftop.[8] The owner of the unit was Louis Lo,[a] the convenor of the HKNF at the time.[8][9] He was arrested and charged with "possessing explosives without a license".[6] Two other men surnamed Hau and Tang were also arrested and received the same charge.[6] Commenting on the raid,Leung told Hong Kong Free Press that he could not yet confirm why explosives were found in Lo's unit,but more information would become available to the public once Lo was released on bail.[7] However,Lo was denied bail due to the seriousness of his alleged crime,which occurred amidst anti-government protests.[10]
The prosecution focused on the amount of TATP discovered inside Lo's unit while building their case against him. Prosecutors noted that the amount of TATP found by police was the largest such discovery since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.[11][12] The defence,however,countered by questioning whether police really did find that much TATP,as bomb disposal experts supposedly detonated the explosives safely on the factory's rooftop,even though a mere 280 grams (9.9oz) of TATP would be enough to blow up an airplane.[12] On 25 November 2019,the prosecution amended Lo's charge to "manufacturing explosives with the intent to endanger life or property" and requested that the case be referred to the High Court.[13] The prosecution's request was approved by magistrate Colin Wong on 2 March 2020.[14]
After several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong,Lo's sentencing was held on 23 April 2021.[15] He pleaded guilty to one count of "possessing explosives with the intent to endanger life or property" and was sentenced to 12 years in prison by High Court Justice Andrew Chan.[15] During the sentencing,Chan compared Lo's case with that of Yip Kai-foon,an infamous Chinese gangster of the 1980s and 1990s who was found with 1.8 kilograms (4.0lb) of explosives when he was arrested.[16] Lo appealed his sentence,but the Court of Appeal refused his request on 25 April 2022.[16]
Dissolution of Hong Kong branch
On 30 June 2020,the day the Hong Kong national security law was passed and came into force,the HKNF announced that it was dissolving its branch in Hong Kong and indefinitely moving its operations abroad to Taiwan and the United Kingdom.[17][18][19][20] Although the law did not ban the HKNF specifically,it did outlaw "acts of secession".[21]
Leung, Winnie (25 September 2018). 梁頌恆加盟民族陣綫[Baggio Leung joins the Hong Kong National Front]. Apple Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 26 June 2019.
控方未備妥文件 荃灣工廈爆炸品案再押後至3月 被告續還柙[Prosecution fails to prepare documents, Tsuen Wan industrial building explosives case postponed to March, defendant remains in custody]. Apple Daily (in Chinese). 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020.
被改控製造炸藥 民族陣綫成員將於高院受審[National Front member accused of making explosives to stand trial in the High Court]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 25 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019.
警搗破「爆炸品實驗室」引爆烈性炸藥 先後拘捕3人[Police raid "explosives laboratory", detonate high explosives, and arrest 3]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 20 July 2019. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019.
關於香港民族陣綫[About the Hong Kong National Front]. Hong Kong National Front (in Chinese) – via Facebook.
香港活動人士因持有爆炸品 被判刑12年[Hong Kong activist sentenced to 12 years in prison for possession of explosives]. Voice of America (in Cantonese). 23 April 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
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