A Hong Kong court on Feb. 11 convicted the father of a U.S.-based human rights dissident for attempting to handle funds linked to his daughter, sparking international criticism for penalizing family members of pro-democracy advocates living abroad.
Kwok Yin-sang, 69, was found guilty of “attempting to deal with, directly or indirectly, any funds or other financial assets or economic resources” under Hong Kong’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, commonly referred to as Article 23. He had pleaded not guilty.
According to the court document, Kwok was accused of attempting to withdraw the funds of roughly $11,360 by terminating a life and personal accident insurance policy held in his daughter’s name.
His daughter, Anna Kwok, or Kwok Fung-yee, left Hong Kong in January 2020 and now works as the executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a Washington-based human rights group.
Prosecutors argue that, since Anna Kwok is a fugitive, any dealings with her insurance policy, whether direct or indirect, are illegal, according to the court document.
Kwok Yin-sang now faces up to seven years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for Feb. 26.
Shortly after her father’s conviction, Anna Kwok took to social media to decry the charges against him, calling them “fabricated, baseless, and incoherent fiction.”
“I am not and have never been the owner of this policy,” she wrote on X. “Nor have I exchanged, received, or sought ‘funds or other financial assets or economic resources’ from my father, my family, any individual, or entity in Hong Kong.”
She criticized Hong Kong authorities for targeting her father in retaliation against her and her pro-democracy advocacy.
“This is hostage taking. This is transnational repression,” she said, noting that such actions would not deter her from continuing her activism.
“As the Hong Kong and Chinese governments wage war on love, hope, and human dignity, I will continue to fight for my family, for the 1,934 political prisoners in Hong Kong, and for a free Hong Kong.”
The conviction of the elder Kwok, who was the first relative of a wanted activist to face such charges, has drawn criticism from international human rights organizations.
“Punishing a 68-year-old father for his daughter’s peaceful activism is an alarming act of collective punishment that has no place under international human rights law,” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on X.
Ray Wong, policy and strategy adviser at Hong Kong Watch, said that with a growing number of pro-democracy activists forced into exile, the Hong Kong government has turned to target their family members.
“This is a common tactic used by the Chinese Communist Party on the Mainland, and just further illustrates the convergence in repressive police tactics between Hong Kong and Mainland China,” Wong said in a statement.
