Hong Kong waiter jailed for 2 years and 4 months for inciting subversion by promoting pro-Taiwan party

A Hong Kong man has been jailed for two years and four months for inciting subversion by promoting a pro-Taiwan political party through online posts and putting up posters in public places

District Court. File photo: GovHK.

Waiter Chan Ho-hin, 23, was sentenced at the District Court on Monday following his guilty plea earlier this month.

Judge Stanley Chan said the defendant’s offence spanned 10 months. During this time, he made posts on social media platforms and put up posters in public to promote the Taiwan-based Revive the Republic of China Freedom Party, according to local media.

The defendant admitted to putting up A4-sized posters relating to the party on the streets of Yau Ma Tei and Wong Tai Sin, as well as sending out application forms for people to join the group.

His posts on X included messages opposing the Chinese Communist Party and the protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” which has been declared illegal under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

Defence lawyers pleaded for leniency on the grounds that the defendant has a mild intellectual disability and that he was merely “parroting” the information he saw online.

Taiwan flag aboard the island’s coast guard vessel. Photo: Kuan Bi-ling, via Facebook.

Judge Chan accepted that the defendant’s mental condition might have impaired his political understanding, but said that the court must not treat national security risks lightly

He dismissed the defence’s argument that the defendant’s advocacy was “empty and vague,” saying that the 23-year-old had promoted ways of making petrol bombs in his social media posts.

Even though Hong Kong has entered a “different kind of atmosphere” since Beijing imposed the national security law in June 2020, potential security hazards still exist, the judge said.

He noted that the defendant did not show a high level of premeditation or have specific targets for incitement.

He ruled that the offence was of a “minor nature” and set three and a half years as a starting sentence, before accounting for a one-third remission for his guilty plea.

A banner inside the Hong Kong government headquarters promoting the national security law. Photo: GovHK.

An offence of incitement to subversion of a minor nature carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, while one of a serious nature carries a sentence of five to 10 years.

Chan was originally charged in April 2025 with the lesser offence of publishing articles with seditious intent under the city’s homegrown security law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, also known as Article 23.

Chan shared 1,184 posts on X between June 2024 and April 2025, according to the prosecution. He had 587 followers on the social media platform.

Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.