A 53-year-old woman was arrested by Hong Kong national security police on Wednesday over “seditious” online posts, becoming the seventh person apprehended under the new law in a case linked to jailed human rights activist Chow Hang-tung.
Police said they arrested the woman on Hong Kong Island on suspicion of committing “offences in connection with seditious intention,” contrary to the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which was enacted in March.
That brought the total number of arrests under the city’s homegrown security law – which is known locally as Article 23 and stands apart from the one Beijing imposed in June 2020 – to seven.
Sedition, which previously had a maximum penalty of two years in prison, is punishable by up to seven years behind bars under the new law.
Wednesday’s arrest came after six people, including Chow, were arrested on Tuesday. Chow has been detained under the Beijing-imposed security law since September 2021.
Police said on Tuesday the group had “exploited an upcoming sensitive date to repeatedly publish posts with seditious intention on a social platform” since April. Security chief Chris Tang said the social platform was a Facebook group named “Chow Hang-tung Club.”
Police added that the group had provoked hatred against the central and Hong Kong governments and the Judiciary, as well as inciting residents to organise or participate in illegal activities at a later stage.
Police on Wednesday said those arrested had been detained for further enquiries, and did not rule out the possibility of further arrests.
‘Sensitive date’
The arrests came days before June 4, the date of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, when hundreds, if not thousands, died as China’s People’s Liberation Army dispersed student protesters in Beijing.
Chow was vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which for three decades organised annual vigils in Victoria Park to remember the victims of the crackdown.
The vigil was banned in 2020 and 2021, with police citing Covid-19, and the Alliance disbanded in September 2021 after its leaders – Chow, Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan – were arrested on suspicion of inciting subversion. There have been no official commemorations held since.
Separate to the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of to up to 16 days, and suspects’ access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city’s opposition-free legislature.
The law has been criticised by rights NGOs, Western states and the UN as vague, broad and “regressive.” Authorities, however, cited perceived foreign interference and a constitutional duty to “close loopholes” after the 2019 protests and unrest.
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
