HONG KONG – Four student union leaders from the University of Hong Kong were arrested on Wednesday on charges of “advocating terrorism” after holding a minute’s silence for a man who stabbed a police officer and then killed himself.
The arrests, by Hong Kong’s new National Security Police, represented the latest crackdown on dissenting voices as the Chinese territory tries to stamp out any sign of the dissent that flared up during the 2019 protest movement.
University students have been among the most determined and vocal demonstrators during the pro-democracy demonstrations in the city in recent years. And Hong Kong officials have used a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing last year to attack campuses, which they have branded as dangerous breeding grounds of anti-government sentiment.
Wednesday’s arrests stemmed from a live-streamed meeting on July 7, when the student union held a moment of silence and passed a motion expressing “deep sadness” over the man’s death and appreciation for his “sacrifice.”
At the height of the anti-government protests, police described college campuses as hotbeds of violence and “cancer cells‘ endangering the city. Under pressure from university administrators and government officials, the number of student activists has declined. Many have said that they are fighting to survive against the growing grip of the Chinese Communist Party.
“To tell the truth, it feels like we’re just waiting to die,” Yanny Chan, a union leader at Lingnan University, said this year.
The Teachers’ Union, which had more than 90,000 members, was dissolved last week after the government stopped recognizing it following attacks by Chinese state media. The Civil Human Rights Front, which staged mass protest marches, was disbanded on Sunday after police repeatedly accused it of illegal operations.
On Wednesday, the largest Hong Kong organization that funds the legal costs of arrested pro-democracy protesters, the 612 Humanities Fund, said it would cease operations.
National Security Police said on Wednesday they had arrested student union president Charles Kwok Wing-ho; the chairman, Kinson Cheung King-sang; and two other representatives, Anthony Yung Chung-hei and Chris Shing-hang Todorovski. None of the students or their lawyers could be reached for comment.
Hong Kong’s Security Minister Chris Tang said at a news conference on Wednesday that they would be charged with “inciting” a terrorist attack. “If there is evidence,” he added, “we will arrest and prosecute.” Those convicted of terrorism under the National Security Act can face a minimum of five years’ imprisonment.
At an earlier press conference outside police headquarters, Li Kwai-Wah, a senior inspector with the National Security Department, said the student union language “rationalises, embellishes and glorifies terrorism.” He suggested that there is a close connection between terrorism and “hatred” against the government and the police.
When asked by reporters why the students were not given a second chance after withdrawing their comments, Mr. Li that the crimes were irrevocable. “Withdrawals can only be taken as apologies,” he said.
He added that “praise, defense and promotion” of the man’s attack on police all amounted to “advocacy terrorism”, and that police would interview the 30 attendees at the July meeting who had voted in favor of the motion. voted. (Two abstained.)
In July, the University of Hong Kong severed ties with the student union. A month later, it banned all students who attended the meeting from campus facilities, fearing the “continued presence” of union members would pose “serious legal and reputational risks” to the institution, Hong Kong’s main university.
Alumni signed an online petition calling on university leaders to withdraw the sentence. A prominent law professor, Eric Cheung, has resigned from the university leadership council over his decision.
“I am very sad,” Professor Cheung said in a radio interview at the time. “Why don’t we as a university help students correct themselves after they make a mistake?” He declined to comment on the arrests.
A university spokeswoman also declined to comment, saying, “It is not appropriate for us to comment as the matter is under investigation.”
