No ‘red line’ for approving assemblies but security threats remain: police chief

There is no “red line” set for approving public assemblies, Hong Kong’s police chief has said, while warning that national security risks persist despite the landmark conviction and imprisonment of organisers behind the city’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil for inciting subversion.

The Hong Kong government on Saturday also strongly condemned Western countries, anti-China media, overseas organisations and politicians for launching “malicious attacks” over the trial of the disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which concluded on Friday.

The alliance’s former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and former vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung were sentenced to seven years and seven years and three months behind bars, respectively. Former vice-chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan, who pleaded guilty ahead of the trial, was sentenced to five years and two months.

They were convicted last month after the judges found they had incited public hatred towards the Communist Party and advocated the group’s illegal agenda through various public events, including the annual commemoration of Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, which until 2019 was the only such event held on Chinese soil.

Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming warned on Saturday that national security risks persist despite the recent sentencing.

“The public may think that society appears peaceful after a major national security case has concluded. But as always, undercurrents are everywhere. We cannot state that there are no other risks. There are undercurrents and soft resistance,” Chow said after attending a police passing-out parade.