In April, the 70th month since Beijing imposed the national security law, the Hong Kong government applied to court to seize assets belonging to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
On National Education Day, a senior Chinese official issued a warning to those who “politicized” the deadly Tai Po fire and tried to “stir chaos” in the city.
The government seeks to seize Jimmy Lai’s assets
The Hong Kong government filed a petition in the High Court on April 2 to seize property “related to the criminal offense”. owned by jailed pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai on national security grounds.
In a statement released the same day, the government cited Lai’s previous convictions under the Beijing-imposed national security law. He said the Supreme Court had found him to be “the ringleader and driving force behind the case, knowingly using Apple Daily and his personal influence” to undermine local and Beijing authorities.
In a letter dated April 2, the secretary for justice listed HK$127 million in assets to be “confiscated” from the authorities.
Assets include credit balances in bank accounts belonging to or associated with the founder of Apple Daily.
Fifteen bank accounts under Lai’s name – 10 with HSBC, two with Hang Seng Bank and three with Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank – hold over HK$32 million.
The government is also seeking to seize bank accounts belonging to 17 companies linked to Lai. It also requires Lai to divest stakes in 17 companies, some of which overlap with the 17 firms whose assets the government is seeking to seize.
Among the companies whose assets and shares the government wants to confiscate are Dico Consultants Ltd, which has over HK$404,302 in its HSBC account, and Lai’s Hotel Properties Ltd, which has over HK$3.1 million in its four HSBC accounts.
Lai has been summoned to the Supreme Court on July 8 to hear the government’s request. The case will be presided over by Esther Toh, one of three judges who heard his national security trial.
The move to seize Lai’s assets came after the government designated three companies linked to the “prohibited organizations” of Lai’s now-defunct tabloid Apple Daily in late March and removed them from the corporate register. Police surrounded the Apple Daily building in Tseung Kwan O a day later.
All three firms were tried and convicted along with the founder of Apple Daily in his high-profile national security case. Lai was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in early February, while the companies were each fined over HK$3 million.
The political commentator appears in court
A political commentator in Hong Kong has been charged by revealing details of a national security investigation appeared in the District Court on April 28.
Wong Kwok-ngon, known by his alias Wong On-yin, has been detained since his arrest in December after allegedly leaking details of police investigations in a national security investigation in a YouTube video.
Judge Stanley Chan said the preliminary hearing will be held behind closed doors on August 11 and that the trial will begin on October 9.
Wong’s offense falls under the National Security Protection Ordinance, a security law known as Article 23. It was added to the ordinance in May as part of additional legislation, and Wong is the first to be loaded according to the new law.
He is also charged with sedition for videos posted on YouTube between January 3 and December 6 last year. He plans to plead not guilty to both charges.
The defendant, who continues to represent himself, told the court he had dropped his application for legal aid.
Asked by the judge if he had the legal knowledge of self-defense, Wong said he had “three law degrees” and was confident about handling the case.
Nat. security clauses for restaurant licenses
Environment and Ecology Secretary Tse Chin-wan said in early April that all Hong Kong restaurant licenses would include national security clauses from September.
Tse made the comments on April 7, nearly a year after the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) introduced provisions for the renewal of restaurant licenses in May.
“With the renewal of restaurant licenses gradually, we expect that by September this year, all restaurant licenses will contain the clauses,” Tse told reporters, according to RTHK.
Pensioner jailed for riotous posts on Facebook
A man from Hong Kong was jailed for a year under the city’s local law on national security after pleading guilty to making inflammatory comments on Facebook, including comments supporting the independence of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Raymond Chong pleaded guilty before National Security Judge Victor So at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on April 14 in a charge of knowingly publishing publications with seditious intent – an offense under the local city safety law, also known as section 23.
The magistrate gave Chong, a pensioner in his early 60s, an 18-month sentence but reduced it by six months after taking into account his guilty plea.
Chong was accused of making 53 inflammatory posts on social media between March 2024 and November 2025, local media reported.
The posts had wording such as “the dissolution of the Chinese Communist Party is the most important thing” and “Hong Kong’s independence is within sight”.
The defendant posted on a public Facebook page called “Holy Raymond,” which features the Chinese phrase “Heaven will destroy the Chinese Communist Party, God bless Hong Kong” as a profile picture.
During pre-sentence mitigation, his lawyer argued that Chong was a Falun Gong practitioner who had come to hate the Chinese Communist Party because of false information that the CCP was involved in harvesting living organs.
Beijing official warned of ‘politicization’ of Tai Po fire
China’s top official in charge of Hong Kong affairs warned some people who “politicized” deadly fire in Tai Po and tried to use the disaster to “stir chaos” in Hong Kong.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, made his comments on April 15 through a recorded video shown at a National Security Education Day ceremony.
In his speech, Xia mentioned the massive fire that broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidized housing estate in Tai Po, on November 26, killing 168 people.
“After the Tai Po fire, some malicious people politicized the tragedy, trying to use the disaster as a tool to disrupt Hong Kong,” Xia said in Mandarin, without elaborating.
“Once again, it reminds us that along Hong Kong’s road to prosperity under good governance, there will be various risks and challenges.”
Speaking at the same event, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee also warned that some people are “using the disaster to foment chaos” and “incite hatred” in Hong Kong.
“Only through the government’s swift action and decisive law enforcement has the situation been able to return to normal,” Lee said in Mandarin.
The French journalist was denied entry into the city
A French journalist was denied entry to Hong Kong in November, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in late April, accusing the city’s authorities of “weaponizing visas” against foreign media workers.
Antoine Vedeilhe, who was filming a documentary for French public broadcaster France Télévisions, was questioned upon arrival at Hong Kong International Airport on November 2 last year, RSF said in a STATEMENT on April 24.
He was detained for three hours before being kicked out without being given a reason, she added.
The press freedom NGO said Vedeilhe was the 13th foreign media worker to be denied entry or a visa by city authorities after Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020.
“In the journalist’s view, his detention was in retaliation for his work on a documentary examining Beijing’s control of Hong Kong,” RSF said.
Another cameraman for the documentary was able to enter the city, RSF said, but he was chased by “unidentified individuals who he suspects were Hong Kong’s national security police.”
“In the following days, there was a hacking attempt on Vedeilhe’s private email account and his sources in the documentary were harassed by the national security police,” the NGO said.
In an emailed response to HKFP’s questions, the Hong Kong government said it “strongly condemns the offensive remarks and distorted narratives by” RSF.
Figures of prosecution and arrests
As of April 1, a total of 394 people have been arrested for “cases involving suspected acts or activities that endanger national security” since Beijing’s national security law took effect, according to the Security Bureau. This figure includes those arrested under Article 23 and for other crimes.
Of the 208 people and five companies that have been charged so far, 180 people and four companies have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.
In total, 100 people and four companies have been charged under Beijing’s national security law, with 79 people and three companies convicted. Thirteen people have been charged under Article 23, 10 of whom have been convicted.
