Political commentator charged with revealing nat. security probe says police gave no confidentiality warning

A Hong Kong political commentator charged with revealing details of a national security investigation has told the court that police did not caution him about confidentiality.

Wong Kwok-ngon, known by his pen name Wong On-yin, appeared at the District Court on Friday for the first day of his trial.

The 72-year-old, who is representing himself, has been remanded in custody since his arrest in December last year.

Wong was charged with divulging information related to a national security investigation, a crime under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO), the city’s homegrown security law known locally as Article 23.

The charge relates to an incident in December 2026, when Wong was taken in by national security police on the same day he was set to appear at a press conference about the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire, which had occurred days before.

Wong and others were set to discuss topics including building renovations and unscrupulous tendering procedures for construction projects – matters which came to light in the wake of the blaze. Wang Fuk Court was under renovation at the time of the incident, and non-fire-safe materials were believed to have exacerbated the fire’s spread.

The press conference was eventually called off.

Wong then talked about his meeting with the police in two live-streamed YouTube videos, and was arrested days later.

He was also charged with sedition in relation to 30 commentary videos he posted between January and December last year.

Police meeting

In court on Friday, senior public prosecutor Cherry Chong said during opening statements that Wong had a YouTube channel that he regularly updated, according to local media reports. As of December 6, 2025 – the date of his arrest – he had around 90,000 subscribers, she added.

The prosecution summoned two police officers who were present at the meeting that the defendant was asked to attend at Mong Kok Police Station.

Wong Ping-kiu, a sergeant in the police’s National Security Department who called the defendant in for the meeting, said another officer handed the defendant a declaration to sign when they met.

“With everyone whom the National Security Department meets, we remind them that the meeting involves an investigation, and that the contents of the meeting must be confidential,” Wong told the court in Cantonese.

Wong On-yin confirmed that he signed the declaration, but said he was not given this verbal warning during the meeting.

During a video-recorded interview with police after his arrest, which was played in court on Monday, Wong told officers he “generally understood” the declaration but that he did not have the patience to read it.

Li Pak-him, a sergeant with the police’s National Security Department, testified on Friday that he gave the declaration to Wong during the meeting. The declaration stated that the meeting’s contents and investigation details are confidential and cannot be disclosed, Li said.

He said he also explained the declaration to Wong, telling him that the meeting must be kept confidential. Wong did not ask any questions about the declaration, Li said.

Wong said Li only told him he could not reveal details of the meeting, but did not say that he could not even mention that a meeting had occurred.

He also said he told Li at the time that news of the National Security Department summoning him for a meeting had already been reported widely in local media.

‘Prison-like environment’

The trial continued on Monday and Tuesday with the prosecution playing Wong’s YouTube commentary videos.

These included two videos posted in early December 2026 in which Wong talked about the meeting with national security police.

The prosecution also played other videos on his channel.

Prosecutors pointed to “seditious content” including Wong’s comments that Hongkongers lived in a “prison-like environment” and that the “five demands” can be raised again provided there is a “change in atmosphere” in the city.

Wong was referring to the demands made during the protests and unrest in 2019, when demonstrators called for the government to release those arrested and grant the city universal suffrage, or the right to vote for their own lawmakers and leader.

On Tuesday, the prosecution played six more videos. These covered topics such as activist Joshua Wong’s second national security charge, the trial of pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, and US politics.

In one video, he talked about the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the city’s Tiananmen vigil organising group that was awaiting trial at the time.

Wong said in the video that he did not think the prosecution had evidence to build a case against them.

The trial, scheduled for 13 days, will continue on Wednesday.

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