Hong Kong protester given prison term

First case under new security law results in 9-year sentence for inciting secession

Hong Kong protester Tong Ying-kit arrives at court earlier this month. His case was the first case under a new national security law as Beijing tightens control over the territory.
(AP/Vincent Yu)
Hong Kong protester Tong Ying-kit arrives at court earlier this month. His case was the first case under a new national security law as Beijing tightens control over the territory. (AP/Vincent Yu)

HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong court sentenced a protester to nine years in prison Friday for terrorism and inciting secession, the first demonstration of the teeth of a new national security law aimed at those who might speak out against Beijing.

The protester, Tong Ying-kit, had faced up to life in prison after being convicted this week. The case against Tong, who crashed a motorcycle into police officers while flying a protest flag, was the first brought under the security law, which was imposed last year on Hong Kong by China's central government.

The collision with the police complicates any analysis of how the courts used the national security law to punish peaceful dissent. But legal experts said the sentence sent a clear message that anti-government speech now carries a greater risk.

"It may appear lenient, as life imprisonment was a possibility. But in my view, it is not: The objective of the NSL is not merely to punish but also to prevent and deter others," said Surya Deva, an associate professor of law at City University of Hong Kong, using an abbreviation for the national security law. "So swift and serious penalties should be expected."

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The security law has transformed Hong Kong's judicial system, which has long been known for its independence and is separate from mainland China's. Under the security law, the Beijing-backed leader of the city selects which judges are authorized to issue verdicts and render sentences, and the government can dispense with the city's customary trial-by-jury system.

Tong's case is, in some ways, a preview of how the courts may consider a slew of national security cases centering on peaceful protest and free expression that are set to follow. Jimmy Lai, an outspoken government critic and media tycoon, has been charged with colluding with foreign governments. Dozens of opposition politicians -- including pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong; former journalist Gwyneth Ho; and Leung Kwok-hung, better known as Long Hair -- have also been charged with subversion for their election campaign, which called for blocking the government's agenda.

"The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have been successful in using the national security legislation in instilling fear in Hong Kong and also using it to clamp down on critics of both the local government and Beijing," said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor of politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "The message could not be more clear, which is that Beijing will not tolerate any opposition, let alone activities considered seditious or subversive."

The national security law was imposed on Hong Kong last summer to quash months of unrest and widespread opposition in 2019, and it has quickly curtailed civil and political rights. Lai's pro-democracy newspaper was forced to shut down.

In Tong's case, the prosecutors made clear that the sentence against him should be determined as much by the message on his banner -- a popular slogan the government has deemed a call to independence -- as his collision with the police.

He was sentenced to 6½ years for inciting secession and eight years for terrorism, terms that were to run partly concurrently, for a total of nine years.

Without the national security law, a person convicted of driving dangerously could have received a sentence of seven years, and of two years for assaulting a police officer. Clive Grossman, Tong's lead defense lawyer, said they would appeal the verdict and the sentence.

Tong's lawyers acknowledged that he had driven dangerously but said that he had tried to avoid the officers and that his actions did not amount to terrorism. They noted that he had been carrying first-aid equipment and that he had scheduled a lunch meeting with friends near the site of his collision with the police.

Tong, 24, was a cook in a Japanese restaurant who helped provide first aid to protesters in 2019. He was the main breadwinner for his family and helped support his sister's studies abroad, according to his lawyers.

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