A former Hong Kong journalist who witnessed the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 has testified at the ouster trial of an activist under the city’s national security law.
Choi Shuk-fong, 66, took the witness stand on Monday to give evidence for Chow Hang-tung, a former leader of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of China’s Patriotic Democratic Movements, which organized annual vigils to commemorate the bloody crackdown.
Choi told the court that she witnessed the Tiananmen crackdown while working as a reporter for Sing Tao Daily.
She left journalism in 1990 and volunteered for the Alliance for nearly three decades, from when the group was established in 1989 until she left Hong Kong in 2018.
“We had to tell the truth. We risked our lives to leave Beijing and came back with this trauma. (Protesters) told us to tell the truth,” she said on Monday.
“The trauma is still here,” Choi told Judge Alex Lee when he asked why she attended the vigil every year.
“subsequent reasons”
The former journalist confirmed that she previously handed over to the Alliance a T-shirt that was given to her in Tiananmen Square, as well as an audio recording from the square.
When Chow — a lawyer representing herself in the trial — showed Cho a photo of the T-shirt, the witness said she was aware it had been displayed at the Alliance museum on June 4.
Judges banned a photo taken by Choi of injured and bloodied protesters in Tiananmen Square from being shown in court.
When Chow was about to show the photo, prosecutor Ivan Cheung objected and said it was an “opportune moment to draw a line”.
Judge Lee told Chow: “I don’t want to speculate whether you’re calling this witness as an opportunity to play something for people to see… At this point, I don’t see how that can help the court.”
Chow responded, saying she intended to present a “balanced view” in response to the prosecution’s “one-sided” account of the activist group’s activities, including the June 4 museum.
Judge Johnny Chan then verbally described the image as depicting injured and bleeding protesters being carried away.
Chow also asked Choi about her personal claims about the Tiananmen Square crackdown as a first-hand witness. However, Lee stopped Choi from responding, saying that making such demands would not help the court.
In response, Chow said her question would allow the court to determine whether the Alliance had any “prior motive” to instigate the coup.
But Lee claimed the question would not help the court. “I think we’re not going to allow it,” he said, ending Choi’s testimony in just over an hour.
‘A democratic society’
A second defense witness, former vigilante Shum Lai-fong, also took the stand on Monday.
The 69-year-old said she told the court she believed the Alliance’s call to end one-party rule was not directed at any specific party.
“It wasn’t about any party in particular,” Shum said. “If the majority of people could freely choose a party to take power, then that would be a democratic society.”
Prosecutors have alleged that the Alliance tried to incite others to overthrow the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through its calls for an end to one-party rule, a core tenet of the group since its founding in 1989.
Chow had testified earlier that the group’s demand to end one-party rule did not constitute a call for the “overthrow” of the PKK.
Asked about her motivation for attending the annual vigils, Shum said: “I want to express my concern for the families of the deceased. I want them to know that people will not forget their loved ones who have died and that they can find some comfort in that.”
Chow Hang-tung, fellow leader Lee Cheuk-yan and the Alliance are on trial for “inciting subversion,” an offense under Beijing’s national security law that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Another leader, Albert Ho, who pleaded guilty to the charges, was barred from attending the trial.
