For three decades, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China organized the only large-scale public vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre held anywhere on Chinese soil, drawing tens of thousands of people to Victoria Park every June 4. Hong Kong banned the vigil in 2020, and months later Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city following the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The Alliance's three leaders — Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, Chow Hang-tung, 41, and Albert Ho, 74 — were arrested and charged with "inciting subversion" for the group's decades-long call to "end one-party rule" in China, and have been held in custody since September 2021. Ho pleaded guilty when the trial opened in January. On August 21, 2026, a Hong Kong court convicted Lee and Chow, who represented herself throughout the trial, a rare choice for a Cambridge- and Hong Kong-trained barrister. Under Article 23's sentencing guidelines, they now face five to ten years in prison, with sentencing to follow. Prosecutors argued the group "endangered national security in the name of human rights." Outside the courthouse, one supporter, barred from entering after refusing to surrender copies of old news reports about the 1989 crackdown, called the case what it was: punishing people for loving their own country enough to remember what happened to it. France and Germany both said they "deeply regret" the verdict and called for the pair's immediate release.
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Commentary: Hong Kong just spent five years and a national security trial proving that the most dangerous thing a person can do in China is light a candle and refuse to forget.
Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/08/21/hong-kong-activists-convicted-for-tiananmen-vigils
AI disclosure: ⚠️ This content was researched and written with AI assistance and may be fully AI-generated. All facts are sourced from the linked article and corroborating sources.
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