Quotes
Such actions are a serious desecration of and trampling on the spirit of the rule of law,
Lin said
No one can engage in illegal activities under the guise of democracy and attempt to evade legal punishment,
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at Tuesday's routine press briefing in response to the sentencing of 45 separatist activists in the Hong Kong case of conspiracy to subvert state powerThe central government firmly supports HKSAR in safeguarding national security,
Lin saidTaiwan is a province of China; what your asked is not a diplomatic issue."
When asked about opposition from China's Taiwan region regarding the sentencing of the 45 secessionists, Lin statedToday’s harsh sentences against dozens of prominent democracy activists reflect just how fast Hong Kong’s civil liberties and judicial independence have nosedived in the past four years since the Chinese government imposed the draconian National Security Law on the city,
said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch
The outcome would set a precedence for future attempts to organize political activities in Hong Kong and it also shows that authorities can arrest and try large numbers of participants at the same time,
Patrick Poon, a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo, told VOA by phoneThe lengthy pre-trial detention and denial of bail application are all common practices in China’s judicial system, so I think this case shows that Hong Kong is becoming more similar to China in that regard,
he told VOASince their arrest in 2021, there are no more protests and there is no more public discussion about anything in Hong Kong,
Debby Chan, a former pro-democracy district councilor, told VOA by phoneThe pro-democracy people are still there, but there are no organizations to gather these people,
she told VOAThe sentences mean we now have a date to look forward to and we finally know when all of this suffering will end,
she told VOA
One defendant tried to apply for parole to visit his sick parents multiple times but the correctional services department rejected his applications. In the end, both of his parents passed away,
Sunny Cheung, an associate fellow for China studies at the Jamestown Foundation and participant in the 2020 primary, told VOA by phoneOne thing I don’t want to see is the authorities blocking relatives from visiting the defendants, but since Hong Kong’s judicial system has become very similar to the Chinese system, it’s really hard to say whether this would happen in Hong Kong or not,
he saidWe call on (Beijing) and Hong Kong authorities to cease politically motivated prosecutions of Hong Kong citizens and to immediately release all political prisoners and individuals jailed for their peaceful advocacy for rights and freedoms,
it said in a statement
The defendants were aggressively prosecuted and jailed for peacefully participating in normal political activity protected under Hong Kong’s Basic Law,
the statement saidWhen the Primary Election took place on the 10 and 11 July, no one had remotely mentioned the fact that Primary Election was no more than an academic exercise and that the Scheme was absolutely unattainable,
the judgment readThis is an unjust imprisonment. They shouldn’t be kept in jail for one day,
said Chan, also the chair of the League of Social Democrats, one of the city’s remaining pro-democracy parties.jpg)
For those who refused to be tamed, punishment is obviously heavier,
Wong said
Do I think I have committed a crime? I don’t, I absolutely don’t. I am ready to face the largest battle of my life in the battlefield of court. I fear, but I don’t retreat.”
In an August 2022 statement posted online by an intermediary, Ng had said
I maybe physically feeble, but I’m mentally sturdy … No worries. We all love Hong Kong yah.”
In a message on Facebook soon after she was charged, Mo told supportersHe's a good person … he's not a political prisoner … why does he have to go to jail?"
Afterwards, his mother Elsa Wu shouted