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Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung are two prominent Hong Kong activists who played a crucial role in organizing the city's annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. They were both charged in 2021 with inciting subversion under Hong Kong's national security law. The case has drawn international attention, with critics arguing it illustrates the weakening of freedoms in Hong Kong under Beijing's imposed national security law.

Lee Cheuk-yan, who is 69 years old, served as the former chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. During the 1989 student-led Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement, Lee personally transported donations from Hong Kongers to Beijing in late May. When troops and tanks entered Beijing and opened fire to suppress the protests in June, Lee was at a hotel in the capital, hearing the gunshots from his room.

He testified that he was asked to leave the hotel before the plane took off and was detained. After questioning and signing a letter of repentance, Lee was permitted to return to Hong Kong on June 8.

This experience fueled Lee's dedication to informing the world about the events of Tiananmen Square. In addition to his activism, Lee is a veteran labor activist in Hong Kong and a former lawmaker. The national security trial centered on the alliance's core demand for ending one-party rule. The prosecution argued that the group's advocacy was about inciting others to employ unlawful means to overthrow the leadership of China's ruling Communist Party.

Lee vehemently denied harboring any enmity toward the party leading the country, asserting that his desire for reform stemmed from his love for the people. "I have no enmity in my heart, only love," he stated.