Hong Kong retiree gets 1 year in jail for seditious social media comments

A Hong Kong retiree has been jailed for a year under the domestic national security law over seditious remarks on social media, after suggesting that last year’s Wang Fuk Court fire could trigger unrest similar to the 2019 anti-government protests.Former salesman Raymond Chong Wai-man, 61, pleaded guilty on Tuesday at West Kowloon Court to knowingly publishing 53 seditious Facebook posts that denigrated the central and local authorities between March 26, 2024 and November 29 last year.Chong, a father of two, drew official ire after commenting on the inferno in Tai Po that engulfed the Wang Fuk Court residential complex for 43 hours from November 26, killing 168 people, the deadliest fire in Hong Kong since 1948.“If this fire triggered another political resistance campaign similar in scale to the anti-extradition bill movement, the Communist Party will definitely not dare carry out a massacre like last time,” he wrote, referring to a now-withdrawn proposal allowing fugitives to be transferred to mainland China.He asserted that “Xi Jindong” – apparently a portmanteau of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the country’s founder Mao Zedong – had lost his grip on power, adding that Xi’s US counterpart Donald Trump could punish the central government if Beijing suppressed another large-scale protest in Hong Kong.Prosecutors argued the statement provoked hatred, contempt or disaffection towards the authorities.The Falun Gong movement is banned in mainland China. Photo: Jonathan WongThe defendant, who follows Falun Gong – a spiritual movement banned in mainland China – also repeatedly accused Beijing of harvesting members’ organs for transplant while calling for the overthrow of the Communist Party and independence for Hong Kong and Taiwan.According to the defence, Chong began writing and sharing anti-China comments on social media to air his grievance about the political reality since 2020, the year Beijing imposed the national security law on the city.His lawyer, Anthony Yuen Wai-ming, described him as a law-abiding resident who mistakenly believed his statements were allowed under the city’s legal framework.Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak rejected that contention, noting that Chong had used the protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” in an affirmative tone despite a landmark court ruling in 2021 that outlawed the popular chant.Further ReadingSo also slammed the defendant for levelling “totally unfounded” accusations about Beijing forcibly removing organs from prisoners of conscience.The magistrate suggested that such “fictitious” claims were often fabricated by “people with ulterior motives” to mislead the public.A London-based independent panel concluded in 2019 that Beijing had continued to harvest organs from Falun Gong practitioners against their wishes. The mainland authorities have repeatedly rejected the allegation and said they stopped using organs from executed prisoners in 2015.“Under caution, the defendant still tried to justify his seditious conduct by using the freedom of speech as a defence, showing his entrenched political belief and the non-spontaneous nature of his actions,” the magistrate said.“The expressions were made in a persistent and systematic manner which blatantly challenged the country’s powers.”The court knocked six months off Chong’s 18-month sentence in recognition of his guilty plea.Sedition carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which took effect on March 23, 2024.Hong Kong police ramped up efforts tackling offensive statements online after Beijing’s national security authorities warned against “anti-China” and “malicious” individuals exploiting the Tai Po fire to stir unrest in the city.Last December, a news commentator was remanded in custody for allegedly posting hundreds of seditious videos on YouTube, including some with remarks about the tragedy. He will stand trial in the District Court.