Four prominent leaders of Hong Kong’s democracy movement were jailed yesterday for their role in organizing mass protests in 2014 that paralyzed the territory for months and infuriated Beijing.
The prison terms are the latest hammer blow to the territory’s beleaguered democracy movement, which has seen key figures jailed or banned from standing as legislators since their demonstrations shook the territory, but failed to win any concessions.
Earlier this month, nine democracy advocates were convicted of at least one charge in a prosecution that deployed rarely used colonial-era public nuisance laws over their participation in the “Umbrella movement” protests, which called for free elections to appoint the territory’s leader.
Photo: Bloomberg
Two key leaders of the mass protests — sociology professor Chan Kin-man (陳健民), 60, and law professor Benny Tai (戴耀廷), 54 — received the longest sentences of 16 months in jail, sparking tears in court and angry chants from hundreds of supporters gathered outside.
Two others — activist Raphael Wong (黃浩銘) and lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun (邵家臻) — received eight months, while the rest had their jail terms suspended or were given a community service order. One defendant, lawmaker Tanya Chan (陳淑莊), had her sentencing adjourned because she needs surgery for a brain tumor.
The jail terms are the steepest yet for anyone involved in the 79-day protest.
As Wong was led away by guards, he said: “Our determination to fight for democracy will not change.”
Tai and Chan founded a civil disobedience campaign known as “Occupy Central” in 2013 alongside 75-year-old Baptist minister Chu Yiu-ming (朱耀明), one of the defendants to have his jail term suspended.
“The long sentences send a chilling warning to all that there will be serious consequences for advocating for democracy,” Human Rights Watch senior China researcher Maya Wang (王松蓮) said.
Amnesty International said that the four jailed men were “prisoners of conscience” and that the record-breaking sentences set a “dangerous precedent.”
Carefully worded criticism came in from Western diplomats in the territory.
Washington’s consulate said that it was “concerned by the Hong Kong Government’s decision to bring these charges,” while Britain’s added that it would be “deeply concerning” if the jailings “were to deter the people of Hong Kong from participating in peaceful protest in the future.”
There were emotional scenes outside the courthouse as the four leaders were driven away in a prison van as supporters shouted: “Add Oil!” — a popular Cantonese phrase to signal encouragement.
Many supporters were holding umbrellas, an emblem of the 2014 protests after they were used by young demonstrators to defend themselves against police batons, tear gas canisters and pepper spray.
Speaking after the sentencing, Tanya Chan told the crowd: “I hope Hong Kongers will not lose hope, will not be afraid, will not have regrets or back down now.”
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary