47 democracy advocates. One rigged trial. The complete annihilation of Hong Kong’s political class.
They Voted in a Primary Election. Beijing Called It Subversion.
In July 2020, more than 600,000 Hong Kong citizens took part in an unofficial primary election. They were helping the pro-democracy camp select the strongest candidates to stand in the upcoming Legislative Council vote — a perfectly ordinary piece of democratic coordination practiced in every functioning democracy on earth. Within months, Beijing had classified the exercise as a criminal conspiracy to overthrow the government. By January 2021, 47 of those involved — politicians, academics, social workers, lawyers, a nursing student — were in handcuffs. The world knows them as the Hong Kong 47. History will know them as the people Beijing jailed for believing in democracy.
Project 35+: Democracy as Crime
The idea at the centre of the prosecution was simple and lawful. Law professor Benny Tai proposed that if the pro-democracy bloc could win 35 or more seats in the 70-seat legislature — a majority — it could use its budget veto powers to pressure the government into implementing genuine democratic reforms. This is standard parliamentary strategy. Governments around the world use exactly this kind of coordinated approach. The Hong Kong authorities called it a “vicious plot” to “paralyze the government and undermine state power.” Three judges, hand-picked by a Beijing-controlled chief executive in a court stripped of jury trials under the National Security Law, agreed. They convicted 14 of the 16 defendants who refused to plead guilty. Thirty-one others had already pleaded guilty in the hope of reduced sentences.
The Sentences: A Generation Behind Bars
On November 19, 2024, the verdicts became numbers measured in years. Benny Tai, the architect of Project 35+, received 10 years — the longest NSL sentence handed down to that point, later surpassed only by Jimmy Lai’s 20-year term in 2026. Joshua Wong, the teenage face of the 2014 Umbrella Movement who had become a global symbol of Hong Kong’s resistance, received 4 years and 8 months. Former journalist Gwyneth Ho got 7 years. Owen Chow, the nursing student, received 7 years and 9 months — for participating in a primary election. Sentences across the 45 convicted ranged from 4 years and 2 months to 10 years. The defendants had faced the possibility of life imprisonment. As Human Rights Watch stated, “Running in an election and trying to win it is now a crime that can lead to a decade in prison in Hong Kong.”
A Court Designed to Convict
The structural integrity of the trial was compromised from its foundation. Under the NSL, the chief executive — a Beijing loyalist — hand-picks judges for national security cases. There is no jury. The presumption of bail does not apply. The defendants in the Hong Kong 47 case spent years in pre-trial detention — some more than three years — before the proceedings even concluded. East Asia Forum described the proceedings as another step in “the slow death of Hong Kong’s democracy by a thousand legalistic cuts.” The US State Department announced new visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials following the sentences. The European Union called it “another unprecedented blow against fundamental freedoms.” Australia expressed “strong objections.” None of it changed a single sentence by a single minute.
The First Prisoners Walk Free — Into a Changed City
In April 2025, the first batch of convicted activists began leaving prison after serving more than four years. Gary Fan left Shek Pik Prison. Claudia Mo walked out of Lo Wu Correctional Institution. They were accompanied by police to vehicles. According to sources cited by the South China Morning Post, they were expected to remain low-key and decline media interviews. The message was unmistakable: you are free, but not free. The city they returned to was unrecognisable. The parties they had helped build were dissolved. The legislature they had hoped to join was a rubber-stamp body populated exclusively by “patriots” approved by Beijing. The civil society organisations that had supported them were disbanded. Over 600,000 Hong Kongers had voted in the primary that sent them to prison. That electorate has never been asked to vote on anything meaningful again. The Columbia Global Freedom of Expression Project has documented the full legal record of the case, noting that the defendants consistently maintained their actions were legitimate democratic coordination. The US Consulate General’s 2025 Hong Kong Policy Act Report concluded the prosecutions involved peaceful political activity protected by the Basic Law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. None of that mattered. In Beijing’s Hong Kong, the law means whatever the Party needs it to mean on any given day.
Yee Man Au
Community & Human Rights Journalist, Apple Daily UK
Contact: yeeman.au@appledaily.uk
Yee Man Au is a community and human rights journalist with professional experience reporting on civil liberties, grassroots advocacy, and social inequality within Chinese-speaking communities. She received her journalism education from a highly regarded Chinese journalism school, where she was trained in ethical reporting, interview methodology, and source verification, with a strong emphasis on public-interest journalism.
Her reporting career includes contributions to Apple Daily and other liberal Chinese newspapers, where she covered housing rights, labor disputes, migrant issues, and community organizing efforts. Yee Man’s work is grounded in firsthand interviews and on-site reporting, ensuring that affected voices are accurately represented rather than abstracted.
She brings practical newsroom experience in handling sensitive subject matter, including working with vulnerable sources and navigating ethical constraints. Editors value her disciplined approach to fact-checking and her ability to corroborate claims through multiple independent sources.
Yee Man’s authority is built through sustained reporting within established media institutions and a demonstrated commitment to transparency and accountability. She adheres to correction protocols and maintains clear documentation of sources and evidence.
At Apple Daily UK, Yee Man Au contributes reliable, experience-based journalism that prioritizes accuracy, dignity, and the public record.
