Hong Kong Jails Tiananmen Vigil Leaders for Subversion
Is this a crackdown on peaceful remembrance or a lawful verdict on genuine subversion?
Above: Elizabeth Tang Yin-ngor (C), wife of Lee, and Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun (L, wearing a mask), Chow's mother, speak to the media after leaving the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts in Hong Kong on Sept. 11. Image credit: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Anti-China narrative
Locking people up for lighting candles is an admission of weakness, not a show of strength. Peaceful remembrance of the Tiananmen dead was legal in Hong Kong for three decades, and turning it into subversion shows the national security law exists to crush dissent. These prisoners of conscience broke no real law and belong free, immediately and unconditionally.
Pro-China narrative
This case was never about candles. The Hong Kong Alliance and its leaders were convicted of conspiring to incite the public to hate the central government and subvert state power, conduct squarely banned under the national security law. A court of qualified judges heard the evidence, one defendant pleaded guilty and the sentences reflect the seriousness of the offense.