Hong Kong activist Chu Kai-poon entered guilty pleas on Thursday to two charges of sedition at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, as reported by local media. The guilty plea came following Chu’s arrest on November 27 by national security police at the Hong Kong International Airport, where he was detained for wearing a shirt bearing what authorities described as “seditious wording.” Following his arrest, charges of sedition were formally filed against him on November 29. Reports indicate that Chu faces a maximum of two years in prison under Hong Kong’s sedition law.
At the center of the case is a long-sleeved shirt worn by Chu bearing the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” the wearing of which resulted in his initial arrest. Chu’s interpretation of liberating Hong Kong is a return to British colonial rule and independence from Beijing’s authority. Likewise, Chu has asserted his view that such liberation could be achieved through revolution. He was recorded expressing these views in an interview. He is currently in custody and his sentencing is expected on Wednesday.
In recent times, Hong Kong’s High Court has interpreted the phrase “Liberate Hong Kong” as an incitement to secession. Indeed, in July 2021, the court found a pro-democracy protestor guilty using this interpretation. The government has stated that this slogan implies the independence of Hong Kong from the People’s Republic of China and changes in the legal status of the territory, which it construes as a threat to state power.
The controversial National Security Law, enacted by Beijing on June 30, 2022, has been pivotal in asserting state power. The government informed the United Nations Human Rights Council in late December that this law had been instrumental in ensuring a “major turn from chaos to governance” in Hong Kong.
At least 265 individuals aged between 15 and 90 have been arrested under the National Security Law since its implementation. Most recently, prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and tycoon Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces that violate the law.
For more information on the ongoing series of cases, read the full article here.