Hong Kong's top court overturns convictions of Tiananmen vigil activists
Advertisement
The Court of Final Appeal on Thursday overturned the lower courts' decisions by ruling that the trio from the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China were deprived of a fair trial.
Former vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung and ex-standing committee members Tsui Hon-kwong and Tang Ngok-kwan from the now-dissolved group were previously convicted by a lower court for refusing to provide police with details about the alliance's members, donors, financial reports and activities in September 2021.
The trio, who had been sentenced to 4½ months' jail in 2023, subsequently launched the first legal challenge over the implementation rules of the Beijing-imposed national security law, which empowered the police chief to request a range of information from a suspected foreign agent or one with links to Taiwan.
They argued that the prosecution had failed to prove the alliance was 'in fact' a foreign agent.
Advertisement
Under the particular rule that the three were charged under, the police chief can directly issue a notice to the suspected foreign agent to hand out relevant information based on 'reasonable belief', without the need to obtain a disclosure order from the court.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Will China win renewables race while US pivots to fossil fuels and nuclear?
US President Donald Trump's signature budget bill, signed into law earlier this month, marked a startling pivot towards fossil fuels and nuclear power, reigniting a fierce debate over how best to balance the country's energy future with its national security. The act, known officially as the One Big Beautiful Bill, rolls back Joe Biden era subsidies for solar, wind and electric vehicles – a dramatic reversal of long-standing US support for clean energy in a world racing towards decarbonisation. At the same time, the act preserves subsidies for nuclear projects, particularly fusion, which is framed as a dependable, low-carbon energy source and a long-term strategy to lessen US reliance on rare earths. Washington has described the energy overhaul as a strategic imperative rooted in national security concerns – especially after Beijing leveraged its near-monopoly over rare earths in the renewed US-China trade war. The legislation's supporters say it is a bold attempt to secure energy independence, arguing that the US must close technological gaps and mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities that could hand additional strategic leverage to Beijing. In this view, China's clean tech manufacturing dominance and control over critical minerals – essential to renewable technologies from solar panels and wind turbines to EV batteries – have left the US exposed to supply disruptions and geopolitical manipulation. Critics argue that the act prioritises short-term security and economic gains over long-term sustainability and global competitiveness – potentially ceding US leadership in the clean energy transition and threatening the planet's climate future.
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How Trump's vision of a single-minded China containment has failed
Half a year into Donald Trump's second US presidency, a stark reality confronts Washington: the grand vision of an unprecedented focus on countering China, heralded by his strategists and supporters, has faltered. Advertisement The fundamental premise that America could dramatically disengage from Europe and the Middle East, freeing up resources for a singular containment strategy against Beijing, has collided against a resistant world. Instead of pivoting to pursue China, Trump finds himself owning the very conflicts he vowed to end, draining American power and granting Beijing breathing room. Resolving the Ukraine war swiftly was a core pillar. As a presidential candidate, Trump boasted he could end the conflict 'in 24 hours', later revising that to weeks. Six months since he took office, Trump stands not as a peacemaker but as a reluctant wartime supplier. His initial threats to abandon Ukraine, aimed at forcing European capitulation or Kyiv's concessions to Moscow, were met with fierce domestic and Nato resistance. Facing bipartisan Congressional pressure and the spectre of a Russian breakthrough, the administration has reversed course . Far from ending the war, Trump now presides over an escalated American commitment, authorising more weapons transfers and military support. The war he promised to stop is now unequivocally his war. This pivot underscores the first fracture: strategic disengagement from Europe proved illusory, with the relationship instead demanding greater attention and resources. The Middle East offered an equally brutal rebuke. Trump pledged to bring peace. Not only does the Gaza conflict persist but his administration has launched strikes against Iran, framed as a blow against its nuclear programme. Yet Iran's nuclear ambitions continue undeterred and Tehran has made no promise to cease uranium enrichment. The strikes have only inflamed tensions, strengthening Iran's hardliners and potentially accelerating its weapons programmes. Advertisement Instead of extricating America to focus eastward, Trump compounded its entanglement. The volatile region now demands constant vigilance, diverting military assets and diplomatic bandwidth – another drain on US strategic reserves.
South China Morning Post
13 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Europe being run into the ground by amateurs and ideologues
The European Union is determined to talk down to China from a position of considerable weakness. The result has been a prematurely concluded summit in Beijing with nothing to show for it other than a standard statement on climate cooperation. Advertisement At the same time, it has literally cried 'daddy' by accepting 15 per cent tariffs on exports to the United States after Donald Trump threatened to slap the bloc with duties of up to 50 per cent. No wonder many European politicians openly complain that Brussels has effectively capitulated. The deal is even worse than the 10 per cent tariffs placed on British exports. London is now boasting about Brexit. French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou tweeted on X: 'It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the deal would cause 'considerable damage' to all parties concerned. 'Not only will there be a higher inflation rate, but it will also affect transatlantic trade overall,' he said. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, a 'featherweight' who had been 'eaten for breakfast' by the Americans. Advertisement Given the challenges from Washington, you might think Brussels would have seized the occasion to expand trade opportunities with China. No, not really. Before her underwhelming trip to Beijing, von der Leyen and her even lighter-weight deputy, the EU foreign minister Kaja Kallas, continued to talk down to China for supposedly propping up Russia. The reality is that the combined resources of the EU and the US still can't prop up Ukraine.
