Hong Kong Student Leader Tony Chung,20, Gets 43 Months in Jail

Chung is the youngest person to be convicted under the national security law imposed by Beijing

Hong Tony Chung student activist Tony Chung, 20, was sentenced to three years and seven months in jail Tuesday, weeks after he plead guilty to secession, under the Beijing-imposed national security law, and to a charge of money laundering, court officials said.

Chung, the youngest person to be convicted under the national security law, told the District Court when he plead guilty on Nov. 4: “I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

The former head of the now-disbanded pro-independence group Studentlocalism plead guilty to a further charge of “money-laundering,” relating to his use of a Paypal account to collect donations from supporters.

Chung has been denied bail since his initial arrest at a coffee shop near the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong on Oct. 27, 2020, while he was seeking asylum.

He is stood trial under Article 21 of the national security law, which prohibits anyone from “actively organizing, planning, implementing or participating in acts aimed at dividing the country and undermining national unity in Hong Kong.”

Chung received three years and four months for the charge of secession, and a year and a half for money laundering, with three months to be served non-concurrently.

Chung had pleaded not guilty to another count of money laundering and to conspiracy to publish seditious materials — charges that were left on file without prosecution under a plea bargain arrangement.

According to prosecutors, Chung continued to publish posts to his group’s Facebook page even after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed the national security law on Hong Kong from July 1, 2020, providing links for donations, despite Chung’s claim that his group had stopped all Hong Kong-based activities.

Police had seized pro-independence flags, leaflets, and books about Hong Kong independence at Chung’s home, they told the court.

“Secession” charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, but the District Court can only hand down jail terms of up to seven years.

Rights monitors condemned the sentence.

“Tony Chung’s sentencing is disproportionate, draconian, and sets a dangerous precedent for other young Hong Kongers whose only crime is using social media to protest the dismantling of Hong Kong’s freedoms,” said Johnny Patterson, policy director of Hong Kong Watch.

“At twenty years old, Tony Chung is the youngest person to be sentenced under this draconian law. He will not be the last,” said Patterson.

Reported by RFA’s Cantonese Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. https://www.rfa.org. 

Escaping from Scam Center on Cambodia’s Bokor Mountain

Young people being deceived into forced labor by criminal gangs, primarily involving illegal work in Chinese-controlled special zones in Cambodia, has become a pressing issue not only in Vietnam but across Southeast Asia.

Read More

UN Security Council Meets to Discuss Children and Armed Conflict

Vanessa Frazier, Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations, introduces a resolution at the Security Council meeting on children and armed conflict.

Read More

10 Shocking Revelations from Bangladesh Commission’s Report About Ex-PM Hasina-Linked Forced Disappearances

Macabre killings, casual torture, misdirection and snooping were part of “the anatomy of enforced disappearances” linked to deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, an inquiry commission said in its first report.

Read More

Migration Dynamics Shifting Due to New US Administration New Regional Laws

In 2024, there was a slowdown in the number of migrants traveling from Latin America to the United States, in part due to new policies and controls put in place in the so-called transit countries that migrants pass through on their way north. Migration dynamics are being reshaping by these measures as well as the new U.S. presidential administration’s promises of mass deportations.

Read More

UN Security Council Meets to Discuss the Maintenance of International Peace and Security and Artificial Intelligence

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America, chairs the United Nations Security Council meeting on Maintenance of International Peace and Security and Artificial Intelligence.

Read More

Winter Brings New Challenges for Residents living in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region

The front line is continually shifting in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine, and Russian shelling is causing more and more damage to nearby cities.Active fighting is putting residents in danger in Dobropillia, while residents of Kostyantynivka, around 7 kilometers from the contact line, frequently have disruptions in heating fuel.

Read More

Permanent Representative of Israel Briefs Press at UN Headquarters

Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, briefs reporters prior to the United Nations Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

Read More

Hospitals Overwhelmed in Vanuatu as Death and Damage Toll Mounts from Quake

Vanuatu on Wednesday took stock of damage from a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 14 people and collapsed buildings in the capital, as the first trickle of international assistance began arriving in the disaster-prone Pacific nation.

Read More