In this issue: Lee and Chow Testify in HK Alliance Trial | CSRI: Beijing’s Financial Long Arm Reaches UK | HK Labour Rights Newsflash
HK Alliance Trial Update: Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung Testify
Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung clarified the meaning behind the call to “end one-party rule” during the hearing. Lee emphasised that this does not reject the possibility of any party governing but opposes the autocratic power, asserting that it is the people, not any party, who should decide the country’s political path. He described the 1989 Tiananmen events as a turning point, shaping his lifelong commitment to democracy and labour rights in China and Hong Kong.
In a deeply emotional testimony, Chow Hang-tung described the Victoria Park vigils as a vessel for “love and responsibility”, not hatred. She choked back tears, recalling the Alliance’s support for late Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, describing their efforts to track his cause of death and support those “erased” by the state.
Chow argued that the Alliance’s five core goals were discussions on civic rights, not subversion. For those in the courtroom, the message was clear: the Alliance wasn’t trying to end the rule of the CCP — they were trying to secure democratic change.
The Bottom Line: In a trial about history and intent, the defendants are fighting to prove that demanding democracy isn’t a crime; it’s a duty.
International Solidarity
CSRI: Beijing’s Financial Long Arm Reaches Hong Kong Dissidents in the UK
“The regime can reach me wherever I am.” Those are the words of HKLRM’s Executive Director Christopher Mung, who recently revealed how Hong Kong authorities are “weaponising” the tax department against him. Despite living in the UK, Mung has been hit with retroactive tax bills for businesses he never even registered—a chilling expansion of transnational repression (TNR).
A new report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) warns that financial coercion is the new frontier. Beyond tax harassment, the report highlights the £3.6bn MPF hostage crisis: by refusing to recognise BNO passports, authorities are blocking move-out savers from accessing an average of £26,376 in pension funds.
As UK-China relations “thaw”, the CSRI is urging Westminster to legally define Economic TNR. Without urgent intervention, the life savings of Hong Kongers remain the ultimate bargaining chip for a regime that refuses to let go.
HK Labour Rights Newsflash
- Bookshop Staff Arrested Over Sale of Jimmy Lai Book <Read more>
- Hong Kong Now Demands Passwords from National Security Suspects <Read more>
- UN Urges China to Free Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung <Read more>
- Hong Kong Journalist Fights Global Media Giant for Union and Press Rights <Read more>
- Activists Urge “Responsible Exit” as Garment Funds Fuel Myanmar Junta <Read more>
- Londoners Challenge China’s Plans for “Mega-Embassy” in Court <Read more>