Calling to end the rule of China’s ruling party does not mean “overthrow” the government and its state organs, a Hong Kong court has heard during the national security trial of Tiananmen vigilante activists.
Court on Wednesday continued to hear submissions by Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, both former leaders of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of China’s Patriotic Democratic Movements, to determine whether the prosecution has produced sufficient evidence to support its case.
Lee and Chow are on trial for “inciting subversion” under a national security law imposed by Beijing. This offense carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The case revolves around the Alliance’s slogan calling for an “end to one-party rule” in China, which prosecutors claim violates the country’s constitution and incites subversion.
‘Quantum Leap’
Defense lawyer Erik Shum, representing Lee, told the court on Wednesday that the prosecution must prove that the call to end one-party rule is tantamount to overthrowing or undermining the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
For 30 years, the Alliance’s call to end one-party rule was intertwined with its advocacy for democratization in China, Shum said, adding that China could become a democracy in the future through further constitutional amendments.
“Even if the prosecution can prove that ending one-party rule means ending the leadership of the PKK, it does not automatically become overthrowing or undermining its leadership,” he said. “This is a quantum leap.”
He also argued that China’s highest state organs, including the National People’s Congress, could still function without CCP leadership.
“If the leadership of the CCP has ended, it does not mean that all the central organs of state power will be broken,” he said.
Prosecutors allege that following China’s 2018 constitutional amendment – which defines the CCP’s “leadership” as the “defining feature” of the country’s socialist system – the Alliance’s advocacy has led to the “subversion or undermining of the basic system” of China and the country’s “central governing body”.
Legitimate requests
Chow, a lawyer representing himself in the trial, argued that the court should consider human rights protections when considering whether the Alliance had incited others to carry out coups.
The Alliance’s slogans fell within the legitimate demand of a Chinese citizen to elect the country’s leadership, she told the court.
“This is a goal that every Chinese citizen has the right to pursue,” she said. “The prosecution is trying to make this goal indescribable, unimaginable and forbidden, but they cannot provide any legal basis.
In response, prosecutor Ned Lai argued that even a future constitutional amendment cannot change China’s basic socialist system under the leadership of the CCP.
The end of the CCP leadership must be undermining the country’s political system, he said.
But Judge Alex Lee appeared frustrated with Lai’s appearance, saying the prosecution should not confuse “end” with “minimum”.
“You have to understand our predicament here,” the judge said Wednesday. “If we are not allowed to make interpretations, then mining is mining, the end is ending.”
PROSECUTOR previously submitted that the court can understand the constitution relying on its literal meaning.
The three-judge panel said it will decide Friday whether the case can proceed.
“This decision will be very significant and will have many implications. The issues are also very complicated,” Judge Lee said in Cantonese as he adjourned the trial.
If the judges rule in favor of the defense on Friday, it will result in the immediate dismissal of the charges and the release of the defendants.
Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, who have been behind bars for more than 1,600 days since their time. arrests in September 2021are seeking early release from charges for national security.
A third defendant, lawyer Albert Ho, pleaded guilty when the trial opened in January.
During the 1989 crackdown in Beijing, hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed as troops dispersed pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square.
For more than three decades, the Alliance held annual vigils in Victoria Park to commemorate the 1989 coup, calling for democracy and the end of one-party rule. The authorities stopped the rally for the first time in 2020citing Covid-19 restrictions. A year later, the Alliance disbanded after authorities again clamped down on vigilantism and arrested its leadership.
