China’s top spy agency calls trial of Hong Kong 47 ‘pivotal test’ of rule of law

China’s top spy agency calls trial of Hong Kong 47 ‘pivotal test’ of rule of law

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Thirty-one others had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit subversion and face possible prison terms ranging from three years to life.

The ministry said the trial, which lasted 118 days, also asserted the “authority of the rule of law” and clarified legal disputes surrounding the national security legislation and the definition of relevant provisions.

“It declared Hong Kong’s zero-tolerance attitude towards the subversion of state power and allowed Hong Kong’s legal system for safeguarding national security to bare its teeth and thorns,” the post on WeChat said.

“This will have far-reaching implications for future rulings on similar cases in Hong Kong.”

Police outside Hong Kong’s High Court ahead of its verdict on 16 opposition politicians and activists accused of breaching the Beijing-imposed national security law last month. Photo: Sam Tsang

The ministry said the ruling also served as a warning to “anti-China troublemakers in Hong Kong” and external forces from the United States and the rest of the West that “whoever dares to challenge China’s national security” would be “severely punished by the law”.

Shortly after the verdicts were announced on May 30, an American government agency, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, urged US President Joe Biden’s administration to sanction Hong Kong judges and prosecutors responsible for the “political prosecutions”.

Britain’s minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne Marie Trevelyan, also said the verdict would “tarnish Hong Kong’s international reputation” and “send a message that residents could no longer safely and meaningfully participate in peaceful political debate”.

China’s top spy agency called such comments and threats of sanctions from external forces of the West “noise”, saying they were doomed to fail and would make mainland Chinese and Hong Kong residents more united.

It also singled out legal academic Benny Tai Yiu-ting, the alleged organiser of the “primary” plot, pointing to the judgment that concluded he had led others to interfere with the proper functioning of key political organs, with the aim of subverting state power.

Last week, Hong Kong’s Department of Justice filed an appeal over the High Court’s acquittal of barrister Lawrence Lau Wai-chung, one of the 16 opposition figures who contested the subversion charges. The department said it would not pursue the second acquitted defendant, social worker Lee Yue-shun.

The court will hear mitigation claims from the others who were convicted on June 25.

Separately, Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu said he would present the Chief Executive’s Award for Exemplary Performance to the team behind the legislation of the city’s domestic national security law, including staff from the Department of Justice, Security Bureau and police.

Lee said the award was well-deserved for the efforts to fulfil Hong Kong’s constitutional responsibility by enacting the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance after more than 26 years of delays.

Lee announced the creation of the award in his maiden policy address in 2022 to recognise and encourage “meritorious and exemplary” service by civil servants. The first recipient was a Hong Kong rescue team deployed to help search for survivors in a major earthquake in Turkey last year.

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