A Portuguese national has been sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to incite secession under the Beijing-imposed national security law, after a judge ruled that he had “demonised China” in social media posts which advocated independence for the city.
District Court Judge Ernest Lin said Joseph John, also known as Wong Kin-chung, had “distorted history” while managing social media accounts for the UK-based Hong Kong Independence Party.
John, 41, was born in Hong Kong and holds a Portuguese passport and a Hong Kong Identity Card, making him the first dual national convicted and jailed under the security law. He was convicted in February of conspiring to incite others to commit secession between July 1, 2020, and November 1, 2022.
Lin said John had “distorted history, demonised the Chinese government, and appealed to foreign countries to destroy Hong Kong and China.”
He said John disseminated posts and messages on social media channels advocating Hong Kong’s designation as an independent Commonwealth nation and its “decolonisation” from the People’s Republic of China, as well as for an armed invasion of China.
John disseminated 42 posts indicating those views on six different online platforms, 35 of which were posted after the national security law came into effect in June 2020, according to the case details. The court ruled that his actions were premeditated, and not a result of him losing his composure out of anger.
John had willingly given police officers the passcode to his phone when asked to do so, and the website of the UK-registered party had been taken down at the time of his arrest, his lawyer said.
But the judge said John did not provide any information on his co-conspirators.
John, who worked at the Royal College of Music in the UK, returned to Hong Kong in 2022 to visit his mother, who had dementia, rather than to hand himself over to the authorities, Lin added. “While I am sympathetic, I also believe that the defendant’s misfortune was entirely a result of his own doing,” he said.
Portuguese Consul-General in Macau and Hong Kong Alexandre Leitão, and deputy head of office at the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macau Matthias Kaufmann, were among the observers in the public gallery on Thursday.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
China's domestic tourism expected to fully recover in summer
This congresswoman was born and raised in Ukraine. She just voted against aid for her homeland
China's air passenger trips to reach 9 million during May Day holiday
UK court rules that extension of UK police powers to intervene in protests is unlawful
Teens plotted to buy guns and attack Jewish people after Sydney bishop was stabbed, police allege
Chen Yufei reaches last 16 at All England Badminton
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry rally to win Zurich Classic team event
At least 6 Egyptian women die after vehicle slides off ferry and plunges into Nile River
Spring Festival travel rush sees 34.74 mln trips on first day