Hong Kong lawmaker denies exaggerating rival’s role in chaotic meeting

Holden Chow testifies against ex-legislator Lam Cheuk-ting, who is accused of ‘assaulting, obstructing or molesting’ a Legco member

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Abraham Razack (centre) is surrounded by other legislators, including Lam Cheuk-ting (left), during chaos in Legco in May 2019. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 9:17pm, 29 Sep 2025

A Hong Kong lawmaker has denied exaggerating his evidence against a political rival from the opposition camp to get him convicted of obstructing a Legislative Council meeting in the lead-up to the 2019 anti-government protests.

Holden Chow Ho-ding testified at West Kowloon Court on Monday against ex-legislator Lam Cheuk-ting over his alleged role in clashes between the two rival camps on May 11, 2019.

Chow, a Beijing loyalist, maintained that he had witnessed Lam trying to use whatever means to stall a Legco committee meeting that morning to prevent lawmakers from reviewing a controversial extradition bill.

The lawmaker dismissed the opposition camp as a “gang of fanatics opposing China and disrupting Hong Kong”, while denying the defence’s claim that he fabricated the allegation out of antagonism towards Lam and his allies.

Lam, a Democratic Party member, is currently serving a combined jail sentence of nearly 10 years in three unrelated cases, including a high-profile national security trial.

The ex-lawmaker has denied two counts of “assaulting, obstructing or molesting” a member within the precincts of the Legco chamber for allegedly interfering with his then colleagues Chow and Ben Chan Han-pan, both affiliated with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.

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