A Hong Kong court on September 11 jailed three former Hong Kong Alliance leaders, Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, for inciting subversion under the national security law. Chow, a former vice-chair, received the heaviest term of seven years and three months, former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan seven years, and Ho five years and two months after pleading guilty. The disbanded Alliance itself was fined HK$1.5 million, CNA reported, citing Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily.
Why did the court treat the case as serious? Although the defendants' remarks set out no concrete way to "end one-party rule," they were spread continuously through various activities and media at a time of social turmoil, so the High Court deemed the case "serious" in nature, PTS reported. For many years the Alliance organised commemorations of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen incident in Beijing, until the Hong Kong government banned the vigil in 2020, citing Covid-19. The national security law took effect on June 30 that year, and several core members were arrested in September 2021.
How did families respond? Lee Cheuk-yan's wife, who appeared with supporters after the hearing, said even the prosecutor and the judge had accepted that the defendants used no unlawful means, yet the court still imposed heavy sentences, showing Hong Kong no longer has freedom of speech, PTS reported. Chow's mother said her daughter had once described the relief of finally taking off her barrister's robe to speak the truth on her own behalf.
What did Hong Kong's leader say? Chief Executive 
John Lee Ka-chiu said the case showed anyone inciting subversion would be punished according to law, and that the defendants' offences went beyond the lawful exercise of free expression, CNA reported. John Lee said the law never allows harm to the country and compatriots under the guise of human rights, democracy and freedom.
How did Taiwan respond? Mainland Affairs Council minister Chiu Chui-cheng said the case was "a political trial" that showed the world "one country, two systems" is a lie, PTS reported. The council urged the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong government to immediately free democracy activists detained or jailed for exercising basic rights. Civic groups including the Judicial Reform Foundation and Amnesty International Taiwan, whose press conference outside the Legislative Yuan was covered by CNA, demanded the three be freed and the national security law repealed.
Figures referenced: John Lee Ka-chiu. — JudgeMarket.
