A Hong Kong man has pleaded guilty to sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan, becoming the first person to be convicted under Hong Kong's new national security law passed in March.
Choo Kaipong, 27, pleaded guilty to one charge of “acting with seditious intent.”
Under the new national security law, the maximum sentence for the crime will be increased from two to seven years in prison, with the potential to rise to 10 years if “collusion with foreign forces” is found to have been involved.
Chu was arrested at a subway station on June 12 wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times” and a yellow mask emblazoned with “FDNOL,” an abbreviation for another slogan, “Five Demands, None Less.”
Both slogans were frequently chanted during major pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Chu, who has been in custody for three months, told police he was wearing the T-shirt to remind people of the protests, the court heard.
Chief Judge Victor So, who was directly appointed by Mayor John Lee to hear national security cases, adjourned the case until Thursday for sentencing.
Hong Kong was handed back to China by Britain in 1997, with Beijing promising that Hong Kong's freedoms, including freedom of speech, would be protected under “one country, two systems.”
Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 following months of protests in the financial hub, punishing acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life imprisonment.
In March 2024, Hong Kong passed a second new national security law, its own legislation, also known as Article 23, according to a parent provision in Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
Critics, including in the U.S. government, have expressed concern about the new national security law, saying vaguely defined provisions on “sedition” could be used to stifle dissent.
Hong Kong and Chinese officials say “loopholes” in the national security system need to be closed.
