Father of US-Based Activist Is Sentenced Under National Security Law in Hong Kong

The sentence is ’the latest act of the Chinese government reaching across borders to silence dissent, wherever it appears,' Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said.

Hong Kong Democracy Council Executive Director Anna Kwok testifies during a hearing before the U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party at Cannon House Office Building in Washington on Dec. 13, 2023. Alex Wong/Getty Images

A Hong Kong court on Feb. 24 sentenced the father of a U.S.-based pro-democracy activist to eight months in prison for a national security offense, in a case that has sparked fresh criticism of the Chinese regime’s transnational repression.

Kwok Yin-sang, 69, was convicted of “attempting to deal with, directly or indirectly, any funds or other financial assets or economic resources” earlier this month under the city’s 2024 security law. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The elder Kwok is the first person to be sentenced under the city’s homegrown security law. Known officially as Hong Kong’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance—commonly referred to as Article 23—the law is designed to supplement similar legislation imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Hong Kong in 2020, one that critics say has already ushered the city into an era of authoritarianism.

Kwok’s daughter, Anna Kwok, left Hong Kong in 2020 and currently works as the executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a Washington-based human rights group.

Authorities in Hong Kong now want to bring the 29-year-old Kwok back. They have offered HK$1 million (about $128,000) for information leading to her arrest, citing violations of the Beijing-imposed security law.

The elder Kwok has been accused of attempting to terminate an insurance policy held in his daughter’s name and withdraw funds worth about $11,000.

Acting principal magistrate Cheng Lim-chi stated that the aim of convicting the elder Kwok was to prevent anyone from handling the financial assets owned or controlled by “an absconder,” thereby achieving the goal of punishing the absconder, according to a court document released on Feb. 26.

Cheng described the nature of Kwok Yin-sang’s actions as “serious.” The judge stated that although the elder Kwok did not directly endanger national security, his actions could have increased the likelihood that his daughter would not return to Hong Kong to face trial, according to the court document.

Shortly after Cheng handed down the sentence against her father, the younger Kwok issued a statement on social media saying that the insurance policy was never in her name.

“To sentence my 69-year-old father under the pretext that his actions lowered the ‘likelihood’ of my return to stand trial is not justice; it is a judicial farce,” Anna Kwok wrote on Instagram on Feb. 26.

She was neither the owner nor the policyholder and had never exercised any control over the policy in question, according to the statement.

“My father was convicted and sentenced under the guise of ‘national security,’” she said. “In truth, this is guilt by blood, this is hostage taking, this is transnational repression.”

Kwok Yin-sang (L) leaves the High Court after a judge granted him bail in Hong Kong on May 20, 2025. Tommy Wang/AFP via Getty Images

Hong Kong Democracy Council, a Washington-based human rights group, stated on X that this is the first time a family member of one of the 34 overseas Hong Kong activists wanted by the city’s national security police has been tried and convicted.

It added that the sentence marks a “significant escalation” of the Chinese regime’s transnational repression campaign.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) called the sentencing of the 69-year-old Kwok “cruel,” saying in a statement it was “the latest act of the Chinese government reaching across borders to silence dissent, wherever it appears.”

“The United States must never back down in the face of China’s campaign of global repression,” Merkley, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement on Feb. 26.

The senator said Kwok was put through “a sham trial“ through a Hong Kong court acting on the Chinese regime’s behalf because his daughter ”spoke out against Beijing’s abuse of the basic rights” of Hongkongers.

“As long as this repression continues, the U.S. cannot allow China to rely on institutions such as Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOs) to enable intimidation and surveillance on American soil,” Merkley said.