Security forces in Hong Kong arrested six people on Tuesday on charges of violating the new Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, known as Article 23, a law designed to shield China’s central government from criticism. Among them was Chow Hang-tung, a former lead organizer of a now-defunct political activist group, who faces up to seven years in prison for inciting “hatred and distrust of the central government, the Hong Kong government and the judiciary.” These were the city’s first arrests under the new law.
The other five detainees are charged with helping Chow post treasonous content on social media in advance of what authorities refer to only as a “sensitive date.” June 4 will mark the 35th anniversary of the massacre of students and other pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Commemorations of the crackdown have been banned in Hong Kong since 2020.
In past years, Chow, a human rights lawyer, has helped organize candlelight vigils to honor the demonstrators who died in the square. Tuesday’s arrest occurred inside a maximum-security prison for women, where Chow was already serving a sentence for “inciting subversion” in connection with her role in a 2021 ceremony to mark the Tiananmen anniversary. The trials of all six activists will be held behind closed doors.
