2 organizers of Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigils convicted in national security case

Two former leaders of Hong Kong's Tiananmen Square memorial vigils were convicted on Friday for allegedly inciting subversion against China's communist leadership. Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, who once headed the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, received their sentences after a government-approved court ruling.

The pair faced charges in 2021 under a national security law imposed by Beijing, which has effectively dismantled the city's once-flourishing pro-democracy movement. They could potentially serve up to 10 years in prison. The alliance itself was also found guilty, with the three-judge panel ruling that the group's calls for "ending one-party dictatorship" were interpreted as seeking to overthrow and undermine the ruling Communist Party's leadership status under the constitution.

The judges emphasized that the "end" in the phrase suggested a desire to remove the party's dominance entirely, rather than simply advocating for a more multiparty system within the existing framework.