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Brian Wong

A Hong Kong barrister turned activist on trial for allegedly inciting subversion has accused Beijing of undermining the nation’s constitutional order by entrenching one-party rule, describing the move as a regression.
Chow Hang-tung told West Kowloon Court on Monday that mainland China took a step backwards in 2018 by amending the constitution to enshrine the Communist Party’s leadership in its main text at a time when the country was gradually heading towards constitutional democracy.
She maintained that advocating an end to one-party rule on the mainland was not the same as seeking to oust the party from its leading position under the constitution, adding that pursuing a democratic change in society should not be considered illegal in the first place.
“A so-called paradox in the constitution of China is that nobody has ever tested in reality whether one-party rule is equivalent to leadership by the Communist Party of China,” Chow said.
“How should the line between dictatorship and leadership be drawn? The constitution plainly doesn’t have an answer.”

Chow, 41, was contesting allegations that she had instigated others to subvert the state by promoting an end to “one-party dictatorship”, one of five operational objectives of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.
The former vice-chairwoman of the alliance faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted under the Beijing-decreed national security law.
Also standing trial are former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and the alliance itself, which is represented by a senior counsel appointed by the official receiver.
The alliance was known for holding annual candlelight vigils to mark Beijing’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on June 4, 1989.
The last vigil was held in 2019. Police banned the event on public health grounds in the next two years, before the alliance disbanded in September 2021.
In her testimony on Monday, Chow cited a 2018 article by then alliance vice-chairman Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, who described that year’s constitutional amendment by Beijing as a “major overthrow” of the previous version in 1982.
The article, which Chow said was an accurate reflection of the alliance’s position, said the removal of a clause limiting the country’s president to two terms would, in effect, allow Chinese President Xi Jinping to lead the country for life.
It also described the Communist Party’s move to “legalise” its “dictatorship” as unacceptable.
Chow added that the alliance had all along called for sweeping political reform as proposed in the manifesto known as “Charter 08”, drafted by a group of prominent mainland dissidents in 2008.
She rejected the three presiding High Court judges’ contention that the alliance could be abetting criminal activity across the border.
“Pursuing democracy in an authoritarian country is always risky. Hong Kong is the same as the mainland in this regard, but should we stop doing the right thing simply because of this?” Chow said.
Mr Justice Johnny Chan Jong-herng challenged Chow’s characterisation of Beijing’s “illegal” crackdown on the 1989 movement, noting that the alliance had predetermined that the government was wrong to suppress the protests.
But Chow said it was a “basic fact” that Beijing had “killed a lot of people”, while stressing the alliance’s annual vigils had served to remind people to exercise their civil rights and demand liability for the mainland government’s “crimes” in 1989.
The trial continues.


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Chow Hang-tung is former vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which was disbanded in 2021. Photo: Getty Images

Lee Cheuk-yan, along with Chow Hang-tung, stands accused of inciting others to overthrow the Communist Party leadership. Photo: Sam Tsang

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Chow Hang-tung says advocating end to one-party rule not same as seeking to oust party, while judge challenges her characterisation of 1989 crackdown


Chow Hang-tung says advocating end to one-party rule not same as seeking to oust party, while judge challenges her characterisation of 1989 crackdown.


Hong Kong activist on trial for subversion calls one-party rule ‘regression’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chow Hang-tung says advocating end to one-party rule not same as seeking to oust party, while judge challenges her characterisation of 1989 crackdown

Chow Hang-tung says advocating end to one-party rule not same as seeking to oust party, while judge challenges her characterisation of 1989 crackdown