Get more with myNEWS

A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you

Learn more

Outside a district council polling booth in North Point. Hong Kong’s political scene went through a series of shake-ups in 2023. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong Politics

Hong Kong politics in 2023: major trials, HK$1 million bounties on fugitives and an election with record-low turnout

2023 opened and closed with high-profile national security trials, as well as big firsts for city leader John Lee and district council revamp at other points
The year also sets the stage for political scene in 2024 as city authorities vow to press ahead with implementing Hong Kong’s own national security law

Hong Kong politics

Willa Wu

Published: 8:30am, 31 Dec 2023

Why you can trust SCMP

Hong Kong started 2023 with news of a high-profile trial of 47 opposition politicians accused of subversion for being involved in an unofficial primary election and closed the year with another closely watched case, involving media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who is accused of sedition and collusion with foreign forces.

For the first time, Hong Kong authorities announced a bounty of HK$1 million (US$128,000) each for the arrest of eight wanted opposition figures now settled overseas and accused of violating the national security law. The list has grown to 13.

On another front, a key Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong affairs made a fact-finding trip to the city and said residents should choose ways other than protests to express their views. Xia Baolong also urged Hongkongers to stay vigilant and protect national security.

The city this year also held its first district council election under revamped rules that allow only “patriots” to contest. It drew a record-low turnout of 27.54 per cent, despite months of efforts by government officials encouraging people to vote.

Here is a look back at key events in the city’s political scene over 2023.

Police officers patrol outside West Kowloon Court as Jimmy Lai’s national security trial kicks off in December. Photo: Sam Tsang

47 opposition figures on trial

The jury-free trial of 47 opposition figures ended in December after spanning 10 months. The defendants, including legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting and student activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, were involved in an unofficial primary poll in 2020 to shortlist opposition candidates for the Legislative Council election.

Prosecutors described the primary as a plot to turn the Legco into a “constitutional weapon of mass destruction” against the government. They said the 47 conspired to win control of the legislature and paralyse the government by indiscriminately vetoing the fiscal budget.

The decision of the three-judge court is not expected before March of 2024 at the earliest. Sixteen accused who denied the charges will find out whether their conduct constituted a “grand strategy of subversion” in breach of the national security law.

The other 31 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to subvert state power. All 47 face a maximum of life imprisonment.

Thirty-five of the 47 are currently remanded, with some having been in prison since March 2021.

Hong Kong 47: who are the key defendants in national security trial?

Media mogul Jimmy Lai’s trial begins

The jury-free trial of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai began on December 18 and is expected to be a marathon court case. There was a heavy police presence at West Kowloon Court, with foreign consulate representatives, including from the United Kingdom and the United States, present to observe the proceedings.

The 76-year-old media mogul is facing three conspiracy charges relating to sedition and collusion with foreign forces for allegedly drawing international sanctions against Hong Kong authorities, and inciting public hatred during the anti-government protests of 2019.

Lai has spent nearly three years in custody. The case is expected to take at least 80 days.

He is represented by a legal team led by senior counsel Robert Pang Yiu-hung. New Zealander Marc Corlett is widely regarded as a replacement for British King’s counsel Timothy Owen, whose possible participation in Lai’s case triggered an interpretation of the security law by Beijing last December.

Beijing asked Hong Kong’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security, headed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, to rule whether Owen, an overseas lawyer not admitted to the Hong Kong Bar, could represent Lai. The committee ruled that allowing him to do so was likely to constitute a risk “contrary to the interests of national security”.

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai has spent nearly three years in custody. Photo: AP

HK$1 million bounties on 13 wanted activists

In July, Hong Kong national security police accused eight opposition figures of violating the city’s national security law and announced a HK$1 million bounty on each to secure their arrest. On December 14, five more were added to the list and all are considered fugitives by the authorities.

The first eight include former legislators Nathan Law Kwun-chung, who is in the UK, and Ted Hui Chi-fung, who is now in Australia. The others were former lawmaker Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, unionist Mung Siu-tat, lawyer Kevin Yam Kin-fung, and activists Finn Lau Cho-dik, Anna Kwok Fung-yee and Elmer Yuan Gong-yi.

02:42

Hong Kong offers HK$1 million bounties on another 5 fugitive opposition figures

The latest five with bounties for their arrest are opposition figures Simon Cheng Man-kit, Frances Hui Wing-ting, Joey Siu Nam, Johnny Fok Ka-chi and Tony Choi Ming-da, who are all accused of inciting secession and subversion, and colluding with foreign forces.

Some Western countries condemned Hong Kong’s action.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said his country would not “tolerate any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK”, while the chairs of two bipartisan US congressional panels urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to impose sanctions on the seven Hong Kong and Chinese officials involved in the matter.

Hong Kong police first introduced bounties for eight wanted activists in July. Photo: Dickson Lee

Agnes Chow not returning to Hong Kong

High-profile opposition activist Agnes Chow Ting, who was allowed by Hong Kong authorities to leave for her studies in Canada, declared in a social media post in December that she would not return.

She was required to report to police by the end of December over a national security case.

Chow said police told her earlier this year that she could have her passport back and travel to Canada if she went on a trip to Shenzhen, where they would arrange for her to learn about China’s achievements.

Chief Executive Lee said her “complete deception” disappointed those who had treated her leniently. Others said her decision not to return was likely to affect how the authorities handled other similar cases in future.

Agnes Chow ‘not the only national security law suspect allowed to leave city’

John Lee stays away from Apec meeting

After months of speculation, city leader Lee, who is under US sanctions, did not attend the Apec leaders summit in San Francisco in November.

The government maintained that Lee received a personal invitation, but was unable to go because of an unspecified “scheduling issue”. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po went on his behalf.

Political observers suggested that the outcome was a pragmatic arrangement to ensure that Lee’s presence would not derail potential progress between Beijing and Washington at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation event.

He said later that the US and Hong Kong could do with a more positive relationship but there was nothing he could do to counter the actions of an “unreasonable bully”.

Lee admitted that US sanctions levied against him after Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 had impeded his ability to promote the city internationally.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) speaks with Hong Kong finance chief Paul Chan at the Apec forum in November. Photo: Bloomberg

District council election

The first district council election after a major overhaul of the electoral system saw only 27.54 per cent of voters casting their ballot. That was a record-low turnout since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

No opposition hopeful managed to gather the required support to contest the December 10 race. The revamp saw the number of directly elected councillors slashed to just 88 in 44 enlarged geographical constituencies.

Three area committees stacked with Beijing loyalists chose 176, city leader Lee appointed 179 and rural leaders filled the remaining 27 seats.

Arguing there was a “good turnout”, Lee urged Hongkongers to focus on the election outcome – constructive district councils rather than the old destructive ones.

Authorities said the revamp was meant to “depoliticise” the municipal-level bodies. In the last election in 2019, at the height of anti-government protests, opposition candidates scored a landslide victory.

Hong Kong’s district councils to be chaired by government officials

Code for civil servants

Under a proposed civil service code, open for public consultation until January 19, government workers are prohibited from openly criticising government policies in their official capacity or even as ordinary residents in certain situations.

With “upholding the constitutional order and national security” as one of 12 core values, the code emphasises the importance of maintaining political neutrality in support of the incumbent chief executive.

Some public servants voiced concerns that the stringent requirements might lead to them deleting their social media accounts. The government insisted the recommendations were not meant to discourage civil servants from expressing their views, but to remind them to exercise discretion in every public action.

The government also released a set of guidelines for evaluating the 470 new district councillors from January 1. Among them: councillors must attend at least 80 per cent of general meetings each year, submit an annual work report and log at least 40 hours a week. Those who fall short risk disciplinary action, including suspension.

Talks on Hong Kong’s economy meaningless without national security: Eric Chan

Xia Baolong’s fact-finding mission

Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs, Xia Baolong, conducted a six-day fact-finding visit in April. He held 28 meetings and became the first high-ranking Beijing representative to address the Legco, tour the city’s top court and meet the heads of foreign business chambers.

During closed-door meetings, he said the presence of opposing views did not equate to “quality democracy”. That was seen as an assurance to lawmakers that their work mattered even in the absence of an opposition.

He called on residents to resort to means other than protests to voice their views, saying protests could be “exploited or manipulated by some with an ulterior motive”.

Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong (left) and city leader John Lee leave the Central Government Office in April. Photo: Jelly Tse

Top Beijing office on Hong Kong affairs revamped

In March, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) was restructured to report directly to the Communist Party’s central leadership instead of the State Council.

The new overarching body, the “Hong Kong and Macau Work Office of the Communist Party Central Committee”, has Xia Baolong continuing as director, assisted by five deputies, including Henan’s deputy secretary and provincial security chief Zhou Ji.

The greater importance of Hong Kong to China was said to be reflected in the new hierarchy of the revamped ministerial-level office.

Why did Beijing ‘elevate’ its top office for Hong Kong affairs?

Firsts in John Lee’s visit to Beijing

City leader Lee’s second duty visit to Beijing, from December 17 to 20, saw a new arrangement. He presented a briefing on his work, including the district council election and progress on the Northern Metropolis plan, to President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang at the same time.

Previously, the two top leaders were briefed separately by Lee on these annual visits.

President Xi Jinping praises Hong Kong leader over national security, district poll

Another major change was the line-up of mainland officials at the briefing, which for the first time included four of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, including Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the party’s Central Committee, and Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, leader of the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs of the party’s Central Committee.

Observers said the new arrangements reflected Xi’s elevated role and a clearer, more direct reporting line for the city after Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs was revamped to report to the Communist Party leadership in March.

Hong Kong to define state secrets according to city’s needs, minister says

Looking ahead – Article 23

Chief Executive Lee pledged in his second policy address in October to finalise legislation for the implementation of Hong Kong’s own national security law by 2024, fulfilling a requirement outlined in Article 23 of the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

He and his administration had warned of what they called “soft resistance”, and said national security threats remained lurking in the city despite the perceived calm in society.