Hong Kong News Hub: Hong Kong student pleads guilty to posting ‘seditious’ online speech whilst in Japan, faces up to 2 years jail

A 23-year-old woman has pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court to publishing online speech with seditious intent. Handpicked national security judge Victor So said on Thursday that the sentence will be handed down in a week’s time.

Yuen Ching-ting, a second-year student at a university in Japan, was arrested by national security police as she arrived back in Hong Kong in early March. She was granted bail on a HK$10,000 cash bond and a long list of strict conditions related to social media use.

West Kowloon Law Courts Building. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Yuen stands accused of engaging in one or more acts with the intent to incite under the colonial-era sedition law, which was revived in the aftermath of the 2019 protests and unrest.

According to the prosecutor, Yuen had published 13 posts on Facebook and Instagram since 2018, with messages such as “I am a Hongkonger; I advocate for Hong Kong independence,” and “as long as the Chinese Communist Party exists, how can there be a home?”

The posts were said to have been published from September 2018 to March 2023. Among the 13 posts, 11 were published in Japan while two were published in Hong Kong.

facebook headquarters singapore social media reaction like — File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP.

The court also heard the defendant’s mitigation plea on Thursday, which mentioned that Yuen had only hundreds of followers on her Facebook and Instagram accounts and she is not an activist.

The defendant’s lawyer argued that – while there were portraits of Yuen along with “seditious speech” among the posts – she simply wanted to gain attention. Yuen stayed in Hong Kong for a short period in August 2019 and did not join the protests, the lawyer told the court.

The defence also presented a mitigation letter from the defendant, and a report by NGO Project Change, saying that Yuen’s views on politics had changed and that the likelihood of reoffending is low. Project Change provides “de-politicised support and counselling for arrested youths and their families,” according to its website.

Hong Kong people Hongkongers small phones — Hongkongers now can check whether they are organ donors with their smart phones. Photo: Kyle Lam/ HKFP.

The defence therefore requested a fine or probation. Those convicted under the sedition law face a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”

Arrests over endangering national security

In June 2020, Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution – bypassing the local legislature – following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts, which were broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers, alarming democrats, civil society groups and trade partners, as such laws have been used broadly to silence and punish dissidents in China. However, the authorities say it has restored stability and peace to the city.

As of August 18, 277 people have been arrested on suspicion of acts endangering national security since the legislation was enacted, the Security Bureau told HKFP. Among them, 161 people and five companies have been charged under the national security law, the sedition law or over other crimes.

Among the 84 people who have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing, 30 were charged under the national security law.

The bureau did has not supplied figures of arrests and charges under the sedition law.

At least 20 of the more than 30 people charged with sedition have not been activists nor politicians, but ordinary people, from service industry workers to delivery staff, AFP reported in July.

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