The three people who were arrested by national security police regarding suspected illegal weapons training last December they were charged with conspiracy to carry out a coup.
Students Wong Kit-lun, 20, and Tang Ngai-pok, 23, as well as waiter Chan Hiu-chun, 23, appeared in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday.
They are among a group of 10 people arrested in December for suspected “illegal drilling” – an offense under the National Security Protection Ordinance.
They stood in the dock next to Gallian Pang and Lee Chun-sum, who were accused of the same crime of plotting to subvert state power — an offense under a Beijing-imposed national security law — a week after the arrests. At the time they were charged in December, both Pang and Lee were security guards aged 24 and 25 respectively.
On Thursday, the prosecution charged Wong, Tang and Chan with conspiring with Pang, Lee and “other unknown persons from November 1, 2024 to December 11, 2025 to organize, plan, commit or participate in acts to subvert state power.”
Wong faced an additional charge of possession of child pornography, an offense under the Child Pornography Prevention Ordinance.
The prosecution also announced that it was charging Lee with suspected possession of explosives and radio communication devices without a license.
Possession of explosives is punishable by a maximum of 14 years of imprisonment, while possession of radio communication devices without a license is punishable by imprisonment of up to two years.
In one STATEMENT Published on Thursday, the government said the December arrests were made after the investigation uncovered a “syndicate” that was “conducting firearms training, knife techniques and martial arts fighting in a unit of an industrial building in Kowloon”.
Their intention was to subvert state power by the means or threat of force,” ie to overthrow (Hong Kong’s) governing bodies, the government said.
The arrests marked the first time authorities had called out the illegal drilling operation.
The remaining arrestees of the case who were not charged have been released on bail. They are asked to report to the police in mid-June, the statement added.
Conspiracy to commit subversion, an offense under national security law, is punishable by life imprisonment in Hong Kong.
