Hong Kong National Front
Hong Kong National Front 香港民族陣綫 | |
---|---|
Convenor | Louis Lo[a] (until 2019) |
Spokesperson | Baggio Leung (2018–2020) |
Founded | 2015 |
Banned | 30 June 2020 |
Headquarters | Central, Hong Kong (until 30 June 2020) |
Membership (2018) | 30 |
Ideology | |
Slogan | "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our time!"[b] |
Party flag | |
Hong Kong National Front | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional Chinese | 香港民族陣綫 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 香港民族阵线 | ||||||||||
|
The Hong Kong National Front (HKNF)[c] is a political organisation which advocates the independence of Hong Kong from China. Originally based in Central, Hong Kong, it was forced to cease its activities in the city following the imposition of the Hong Kong national security law on 30 June 2020. The group currently operates in exile in Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Baggio Leung, a pro-independence politician who briefly served as a member of the Legislative Council in late 2016, joined the HKNF as its new spokesperson on 24 September 2018. He was the most high-profile politician to join the HKNF; he resigned from his position following the dissolution of the HKNF's Hong Kong branch.
On 20 July 2019, the Hong Kong Police Force raided a factory unit belonging to the HKNF's then convenor Louis Lo[a] and found a cache of high explosives. Lo was arrested along with two others and charged with possessing unlicensed explosives. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the High Court.
Ideology
[edit]The Hong Kong National Front advocates Hong Kong independence[1] and localism.[2] Citing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the group argues that Hong Kong lost its right to self-determination when the Sino-British Joint Declaration was "negotiated without representatives of the Hong Kong people".[3] It views the Chinese Communist Party as an existential threat to the way of life in Hong Kong and vehemently opposes the Chinese government's activities in the city.[3]
History
[edit]Before the 2019 protests
[edit]The Hong Kong National Front (HKNF) was founded by a small group of young activists in 2015.[4] It reportedly had a membership of 30 people in May 2018,[1] but by the end of the year the number of participants in its rallies had dropped to around 20.[4]
Baggio Leung, the convenor of the localist political party Youngspiration, announced on 24 September 2018 that he had joined the HKNF as its new spokesperson.[4][5] The announcement came an hour before the similarly-named Hong Kong National Party was banned by the Hong Kong government over "national security concerns", a decision which Leung expected.[4] Leung had briefly served as a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in late 2016; he was unseated for making inappropriate remarks against China during his oath of office.[4] The HKNF expressed its hope that Leung's membership would allow the HKNF and Youngspiration to better coordinate with each other and share resources.[5] It also described Leung's decision to join as an "important step toward moving the gears of [Hong Kong] history forward".[5] Leung reciprocated these sentiments in his own statement, saying: "[The Hong Kong independence camp] must show unity when it is being suppressed. I hope that by joining the HKNF I will allow [the HKNF] to continue its work."[5]
The HKNF supported a February 2019 petition which demanded a public apology from the school administration of Xianggang Putonghua Yanxishe Primary School of Science and Creativity in Tin Shui Wai.[6] During a news report by i-Cable, multiple students from the school told interviewers that they faced reprimand and punishment if they spoke Cantonese in class.[6] The HKNF released a joint statement on the matter alongside Tin Shui Wai New Force, Studentlocalism, Students Independence Union , and Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis .[6]
The HKNF's Facebook page was the target of a disinformation and harassment campaign in 2019. Facebook posts made by the HKNF received thousands of comments falsely accusing HKNF members of extreme violence and links to the United States' Central Intelligence Agency.[7] Steven Feldstein, an American researcher who previously worked for the U.S. State Department, attributed the campaign to the Chinese government.[7]
Explosives case
[edit]In the early morning hours of 20 July 2019, officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force raided a unit on the 20th floor of Lung Shing Factory Building in Tsuen Wan and found a cache of high explosives.[8] An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was subsequently dispatched and 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb) of TATP,[d] 10 incendiary devices, and several jugs of acid were seized.[9] According to police, bomb disposal experts then safely destroyed the TATP in a controlled explosion on the factory's rooftop.[10] The owner of the unit was Louis Lo,[a] the then convenor of the HKNF.[10] He was arrested and charged with "possessing explosives without a license".[8] Two other men surnamed Hau and Tang were also arrested and received the same charge.[8] Commenting on the raid, Leung told Hong Kong Free Press that he could not yet confirm why explosives were found in Lo's unit, but more information would become available to the public once Lo was released on bail.[9] However, Lo was denied bail due to the seriousness of his alleged crime, which occurred amidst anti-government protests.[11]
The prosecution focused on the amount of TATP discovered inside Lo's unit while building their case against him. Prosecutors noted that the amount of TATP found by police was the largest such discovery since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.[12][13] The defence, however, countered by questioning whether police really did find that much TATP, as bomb disposal experts supposedly detonated the explosives safely on the factory's rooftop, even though a mere 280 grams (9.9 oz) of TATP would be enough to blow up an airplane.[13] On 25 November 2019, the prosecution amended Lo's charge to "manufacturing explosives with the intent to endanger life or property" and requested that the case be referred to the High Court.[14] The prosecution's request was approved by magistrate Colin Wong on 2 March 2020.[15]
After several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, Lo's sentencing was held on 23 April 2021.[16] He pleaded guilty to one count of "possessing explosives with the intent to endanger life or property" and was sentenced to 12 years in prison by High Court Justice Andrew Chan.[16] During the sentencing, Chan compared Lo's case with that of Yip Kai-foon, an infamous Chinese gangster of the 1980s and 1990s who was found with 1.8 kilograms (4.0 lb) of explosives when he was arrested.[17] Lo appealed his sentence, but the Court of Appeal refused his request on 25 April 2022.[17]
Dissolution of Hong Kong branch
[edit]On 30 June 2020, the day the Hong Kong national security law was passed and came into force, the HKNF announced that it was dissolving its branch in Hong Kong and indefinitely moving its operations abroad to Taiwan and the United Kingdom.[18][19][20][21] Although the law did not ban the HKNF specifically, it did outlaw "acts of secession".[2]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b Yu 2018.
- ^ a b Sum 2020.
- ^ a b Hong Kong National Front.
- ^ a b c d e Cheng 2018.
- ^ a b c d Leung 2018.
- ^ a b c Cheng 2019.
- ^ a b Feldstein 2021, p. 33.
- ^ a b c Ming Pao 2019a.
- ^ a b Chan 2019.
- ^ a b Wong 2021.
- ^ Siu 2019.
- ^ Chung 2019.
- ^ a b Nip 2019.
- ^ Ming Pao 2019b.
- ^ Apple Daily 2020.
- ^ a b Ho 2021.
- ^ a b Ho 2022.
- ^ Liu & Yang 2020.
- ^ Pang & Chow 2020.
- ^ BBC News 2020.
- ^ The Guardian 2020.
English sources
[edit]- Chan, Holmes (20 July 2019). "Police find 'extremely powerful' explosives at storage space of Hong Kong pro-independence party". Hong Kong Free Press.
- Chan, Holmes (31 March 2020). "Scuffle at New Year's Day rally as man carrying Hong Kong independence banner enters gov't protest hotspot". Hong Kong Free Press.
- Cheng, Kris (24 February 2019). "Activists urge primary school to apologise over reports it punishes students for speaking Cantonese". Hong Kong Free Press.
- Cheng, Kris (14 October 2018). "Beijing is taking Hong Kong back 100 years, says Baggio Leung, new spokesperson for pro-independence group HKNF". Hong Kong Free Press.
- Chung, Kimmy (21 July 2019). "Trio arrested over biggest bomb plot includes independence group members". South China Morning Post.
- Creery, Jennifer (3 July 2020). "Hongkongers purge social media, delete accounts as Beijing passes national security law". Hong Kong Free Press.
- Feldstein, Steven (2021). The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-005749-7.
- Ho, Kelly (23 April 2021). "Ex-member of Hong Kong separatist group gets 12-year jail term for possessing explosives". Hong Kong Free Press.
- Ho, Kelly (26 April 2022). "Ex-member of Hong Kong independence group loses appeal bid against 12-year jail term over explosives". Hong Kong Free Press.
- "Hong Kong activists shut down protest groups after China passes security law". The Guardian. 30 June 2020.
- "Hong Kong National Front dissolved". The Standard. 30 June 2020.
- "Hong Kong security law: Minutes after new law, pro-democracy voices quit". BBC News. 30 June 2020.
- Liu, Nicolle; Yang, Yuan (30 June 2020). "Hong Kong pro-democracy groups disband after security law passed". Financial Times.
- Nip, Amy (15 October 2019). "Court told of 'weapon of mass destruction' discovery". The Standard.
- Pang, Jessie; Chow, Yanni (30 June 2020). "Hong Kong democracy activist group led by Joshua Wong disbands". Reuters.
- Siu, Jasmine (22 July 2019). "National Front member arrested over Hong Kong explosives denied bail". South China Morning Post.
- Sum, Lok-kei (30 June 2020). "Fate of localist movement hangs in balance after security law passed". South China Morning Post.
- Wong, Brian (9 April 2021). "Hong Kong protests: Former pro-independence group member pleads guilty to possessing 1kg of high explosives, faces 20 years' jail". South China Morning Post.
- Yu, Elaine (6 May 2018). "Out for the count? Hong Kong's battered independence movement". Agence France-Presse – via Hong Kong Free Press.
Chinese sources
[edit]- Leung, Winnie (25 September 2018). 梁頌恆加盟民族陣綫 [Baggio Leung joins the Hong Kong National Front]. Apple Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 26 June 2019.
- 控方未備妥文件 荃灣工廈爆炸品案再押後至3月 被告續還柙 [Prosecution fails to prepare documents, Tsuen Wan industrial building explosives case postponed to March, defendant remains in custody]. Apple Daily (in Chinese). 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020.
- 被改控製造炸藥 民族陣綫成員將於高院受審 [National Front member accused of making explosives to stand trial in the High Court]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 25 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019.
- 警搗破「爆炸品實驗室」引爆烈性炸藥 先後拘捕3人 [Police raid "explosives laboratory", detonate high explosives, and arrest 3]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 20 July 2019. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019.
- 關於香港民族陣綫 [About the Hong Kong National Front]. Hong Kong National Front (in Chinese) – via Facebook.