Former District Councilor Arrested by National Security Police Booted From Stage Play by Government

Police keep watch over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour as the city marks the 27th anniversary of the Handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China on July 1, 2024. Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

Chan Kim-kam, a former Tsuen Wan district councilor who was arrested last year by Hong Kong police’s National Security Department, stated on social media on May 18 that the government pressured a theater group to replace her in a stage play that was scheduled to be performed at a government-run venue.

She said authorities warned that the venue would not be rented out unless she was removed from the cast. Chan also revealed that the school where she had been teaching terminated her employment after receiving a complaint letter.

Chan was arrested ahead of June 4, 2024, under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, commonly known as Article 23, and was subsequently released on bail.

The National Security Bureau accused her and others of posting anonymously on a social media page, using the “upcoming sensitive day,” meaning the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989, to incite netizens to organize or participate in illegal activities.

In her May 18 post, Chan Kim-kam said government authorities reviewed the cast list for the upcoming stage performance, which was set to premiere in two weeks in a public venue. The theater group was told to replace a specific actor—referring to Chan—or risk having their previously approved venue booking revoked.

She also said that a teaching job she had already started was abruptly terminated after the school received an anonymous complaint letter written in simplified Chinese. The dismissal was carried out without any appeals process or proper procedure, effectively ending her employment, according to Chan.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which is responsible for handling the rental of government venues, told Ming Pao newspaper that it manages all venue booking matters in accordance with existing booking procedures and rental terms and would not comment on individual bookings.

Chan also wrote in her post that if these two incidents are dismissed by those in power as mere “isolated cases,” the vulnerable individuals involved would be left to face unreasonable suppression alone and ultimately disappear from public view.

She wrote that everyone labeled as “sensitive” is being censored, rejected, isolated, pressured to leave, and made invisible. As a result, they are unable to pursue their passions or build a life—often struggle even to find work, which affects their very survival. She said, “My voice may be weak and carry little weight, but I will not stay silent.”

Other Venue Bookings Cancelled

Other pro-democracy figures have also been denied access to rental venues for performances in Hong Kong. In January, what was supposed to be the 20th anniversary concert of singer-songwriter Pong Nan, originally scheduled to be held in the West Kowloon Cultural District, had its booking cancelled at the last minute. Nan had previously criticized artists who supported the Hong Kong government’s crackdown during the 2019 democracy movement.

Both the band Per Se and the Hong Kong Festival Orchestra were also originally scheduled to hold a concert at the Hong Kong City Hall in January, but received a notice from the City Hall that the hall needed to close for inspections and repairs, and the performance was eventually cancelled. A pro-communist website had published an article before the performance claiming that the orchestra belonged to the “yellow camp,” meaning a group supporting the democratic movement, according to Ming Pao.

The founder of the Hong Kong Festival Orchestra, Sean Li, has also been subjected to repeated accusations from pro-Beijing groups that he was the conductor and English lyricist of a version of the banned protest song “Glory to Hong Kong,” reported the news outlet.