A resident of the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po has said homeowners ran into hitches registering for online information sessions scheduled later this month.

Hop On Management, which took over estate management duties after the owners’ corporation committee was dissolved in the wake of the fatal blaze, said in an SMS message to a resident on Sunday that he had not completed registration for an “update session” on May 20, two days after the firm initially confirmed his registration.

The management company – a subsidiary of real estate giant Chinachem Group – announced last week that it had scheduled two online sessions on May 12 and 20. Tuesday’s session will be the first time for Hop On to address residents collectively.

It will give updates on the firm’s work as well as the financial situation of the now-dissolved owners’ board and refund arrangements for the renovation works that were under way when the fire broke out in November.

According to a Hop On document shared with residents and seen by HKFP, the session is only intended to explain the current situation to Wang Fuk Court residents and answer any questions they may have. No voting procedures will take place.

Registration ‘not completed’

The resident, who declined to be identified, showed HKFP the text message he received from Hop On. It said: “You have not completed the registration procedures for the Wang Fuk Court owners update session. Therefore, we cannot confirm attendance arrangements.”

The resident said he registered for the first session when registration opened on Wednesday, days before the deadline on Sunday at 11.59pm.

Hop On confirmed his registration on Friday but told him on Sunday afternoon that his registration had not been completed.

As of Monday morning, the resident’s registration had not been confirmed.

He said that another resident told him of experiencing the same issue.

Since Hop On was appointed administrator of Wang Fuk Court in January, residents have called on the company to hold a general meeting with homeowners. A petition launched by a group of survivors collected 247 handwritten signatures, or some 12 per cent of all households at the estate.

Hong Kong’s Building Management Ordinance stipulates that a management committee must convene a general meeting at the written request of at least five per cent of owners.

The Home Affairs Department earlier alleged that a similar petition, conducted online, could have contained fraudulent signatures.

The Tai Po fire broke out on November 26, claiming 168 lives and burning the homes of thousands. The blaze is Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948.

An outspoken resident who survived Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has said he will not give any more media interviews after his release following an arrest over alleged government loan fraud.

“Going forward, I won’t be responding to anything, OK?” Wang Fuk Court resident Jason Kong told reporters outside Tsuen Wan Police Station shortly after midnight on Saturday. “Thank you all for your care and support over the past few months.”

Kong and his wife were reportedly arrested on Thursday on suspicion of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud.

The couple, both directors of an interior design company, allegedly used fraudulent means to obtain several hundred thousand dollars in loans under the government’s Special 100% Loan Guarantee scheme, which was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sources familiar with the matter told HKFP on Friday that they were being detained at a police station.

The arrests came around two weeks after Kong was involved in organising and delivering a petition to Hop On Management, the government-appointed administrator for the Tai Po housing estate, asking the firm to hold a meeting with homeowners.

Kong, who was a member of the Wang Fuk Court owners’ board when the fire broke out in November, had also spoken with the media on other issues, such as long-term resettlement.

However, upon his release on Saturday, he refused to answer reporters’ questions about whether he was under investigation for other matters, as well as whether he would still handle matters relating to a petition for an owners’ meeting.

Asked whether he was still able to speak for residents, Kong said that he had “no comment.”

“I hope that everyone can stay safe and healthy, and once again I thank everyone for their support,” he said.

“I hope that residents can settle down as soon as possible,” Kong added as he got into a taxi.

Hop On, which received a petition with 247 handwritten signatures on April 29, has yet to hold an in-person meeting with homeowners. The management firm said last week that it would apply to the Lands Tribunal to extend the statutory deadline for the meeting.

Kong and other fire survivors previously launched a similar petition online in March, signed by more than 400 homeowners and representatives of those killed in the fire.

Hop On rejected the demand, while the Home Affairs Department said the signatures might have been forged.

Kong also testified before an independent committee investigating the blaze last month, saying that government agencies had “failed in their duties” despite receiving complaints about the renovation project at the estate.

Hong Kong authorities cannot rule out theft in 16 of 142 lost property reports filed by residents of the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court housing estate, the security minister has said.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang said on an RTHK programme on Saturday that in 48 cases, the police and the residents were able to retrieve the missing items.

“About 20 per cent [of the reports] concerned flats that were severely burned, for which we, as well as the residents, believe the items had likely been incinerated,” Tang said in Cantonese. “In 30 per cent of cases, the residents could not clearly describe the items, making it difficult to follow up.”

But Tang said in the remaining 16 cases, the missing items might have been stolen, and that police were investigating.

Wang Fuk Court residents were allowed to return to their homes twice since April to collect personal belongings, months after a massive inferno in November ripped through seven blocks of the Tai Po housing estate, killing 168 people and displacing others.

The entire estate’s eight blocks have been cordoned off by the authorities since the blaze. Some residents raised alarms about a possible security loophole as they suspected valuable items at their homes had been stolen.

In March, weeks before residents made their first home trips, police arrested three men hired to carry out reinforcement works at Wang Fuk Court for allegedly stealing jewellery from unoccupied flats. Authorities said they had stepped up security at the estate since then.

Increased emergency hotlines

Tang also said on the Saturday programme that the Fire Services Department (FSD) had increased its emergency phone lines from 30 to 48 in recent months, with the figure expected to reach nearly 70 in the next two to three months.

After the FSD completes its command system upgrade early next year, there will be 100 available hotlines, Tang added.

The public inquiry into the blaze previously heard that hundreds of emergency calls during the fire had overloaded the FSD’s system, leading to backlogged calls and failed connections. In one case, a woman died after the police failed to pass her call to the FSD.

Tang said on Saturday that the 30-line system had been enough for handling fires in the past until the Tai Po blaze.

“We realised 30 lines were not enough in an event like this, so we felt the need to immediately increase that. But we have to strike a balance between resources and needs, and we think that 100 lines will be enough,” Tang said.

He also mentioned the government’s proposal to revamp the city’s fire safety laws, saying it aims at ensuring the FSD has the “final responsibility” in the oversight of buildings’ fire risks.

After the revamp, the FSD will actively refer structural fire hazards, such as exit points for workers in a building’s fire staircase, to the responsible departments and follow up on the matter, Tang said.

The proposed amendments will cover the Fire Services Ordinance and three subsidiary pieces of legislation on fire safety equipment in buildings, the professionals who oversee them, and the FSD’s powers to abate fire hazards, the government announced last week.

A one-month public consultation regarding the proposed revamp is underway. Residents have until June 25 to submit their views in writing.

Wang Fuk Court fire survivors Jason Kong and his wife have been arrested for alleged government loan fraud – two weeks after he delivered a petition asking the estate’s administrator to meet with homeowners.

Sing Tao Daily reported on Friday morning that Kong and his wife were arrested on Thursday over “money laundering” and “conspiracy to defraud.”

The couple, both directors of an interior design company, are alleged to have used fraudulent means to obtain several hundred thousand dollars in loans under the government’s Special 100% Loan Guarantee scheme.

The scheme was launched by the Hong Kong government in early 2020 to help companies amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Sing Tao Daily, Kong allegedly faked the income records for January to March 2020 of his interior design company when he applied for the loan in 2022, “creating the impression that his company was affected by Covid-19.”

It is suspected that he obtained “several hundred thousand dollars,” and some funds were transferred to his personal account, the newspaper reported.

Sources familiar with the matter told HKFP that, as of Friday morning, Kong and his wife were being detained at a police station.

HKFP has not been able to reach Kong since Thursday afternoon.

In response to HKFP’s enquiry, police said on Friday afternoon that they arrested a local man and a local woman in Yuen Long on Thursday, following an investigation by the Regional Crime Unit of New Territories South.

The pair were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud, police said. The suspects, aged 62 and 64, are accused of defrauding the government’s Special 100% Loan Guarantee scheme.

Outspoken

Kong is a flat owner at the fire-ravaged Tai Po residential estate. He was also a member of the Wang Fuk Court owners’ board when the fire broke out.

He and his wife survived the fire, but their dog died in the blaze.

Kong has been outspoken on matters of displacement and long-term resettlement. He has been urging the government and the government-appointed administrator, Hop On Management, to hold a meeting with homeowners.

On April 29, Kong delivered a petition, which garnered 247 handwritten signatures, to Hop On, asking the firm to hold a general meeting with homeowners to discuss long-term resettlement and related financial matters. He was one of the petition organisers.

Hop On said on Wednesday that it would seek to extend the statutory deadline for holding a homeowners’ meeting, citing the need for more time to verify owners’ signatures and find a suitable venue.

The company also said it would not communicate with “specific” residents.

“As the administrator, Hop On’s responsibility is to represent and serve all owners of Wang Fuk Court, rather than communicating only with a portion of owners or specific individuals,” the company said.

In early April, state-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao reported that Kong collected 500 online signatures for a petition urging Hop On to hold a general meeting with homeowners.

The report questioned the authenticity of the signatures and asked why Kong did not introduce a mechanism to verify them.

It also questioned why Kong joined the owners’ board of a residential estate in Sai Kung District. In response, Kong, who owns a property on the estate, asked why somebody should not be allowed to serve on several owners’ boards across different housing estates.

Arrests linked to gov’t loan

Since last year, there have been other arrests related to the government’s pandemic loan scheme.

In April 2025, police arrested six people, including at least one director of independent media outlet Channel C’s parent company, for allegedly defrauding the Special 100% Loan Guarantee scheme.

Channel C – founded by a small group of former Apple Daily employees in July 2021 following the closure of the pro-democracy newspaper – ceased operations soon after the arrests.

In March this year, businessman Jason Poon, who took on corruption in the construction sector, was arrested over the same government loan scheme.

He was active in highlighting issues in renovation projects at Hong Kong’s residential estates, including the quality of scaffolding nets and the bid-rigging epidemic – issues that arose in the wake of the Wang Fuk Court fire.

Following his arrest, Poon said that he would focus more on his family.

In April, the 70th month since Beijing imposed the national security law, the Hong Kong government applied to the court to seize assets belonging to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

On National Education Day, a top Chinese official delivered a warning about those who “politicised” the deadly Tai Po fire and tried to “stir up chaos” in the city.

Gov’t seeks to seize Jimmy Lai’s assets

The Hong Kong government filed an application with the High Court on April 2 to seize “offence-related” properties owned by jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai on national security grounds.

In a statement issued the same day, the government mentioned Lai’s earlier convictions under the Beijing-imposed national security law. It said the High Court had found that he was the “mastermind and driving force behind the case, consciously using Apple Daily and his personal influence” to undermine local and Beijing authorities.

In a writ dated April 2, the secretary for justice listed HK$127 million in assets to be “forfeited” to the authorities.

The assets include credit balances in bank accounts belonging to or linked to the Apple Daily founder.

Fifteen bank accounts under Lai’s name – 10 with HSBC, two with Hang Seng Bank and three with Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank – have over HK$32 million.

The government is also seeking to seize bank accounts belonging to 17 companies linked to Lai. It is also demanding that Lai give up shares in 17 companies, some of which overlap with the 17 firms whose assets the government is seeking to seize.

Among the companies whose assets and shares the government wants to seize are Dico Consultants Ltd, which has over HK$404,302 in its HSBC account, and Lai’s Hotel Properties Ltd, which has over HK$3.1 million in its four HSBC accounts.

Lai has been summoned to the High Court on July 8 to hear the government’s application. The case will be presided over by Esther Toh, one of the three judges who heard his national security trial.

The move to seize Lai’s assets came after the government designated three companies linked to Lai’s now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid “prohibited organisations” in late March and removed them from the corporate registry. Police cordoned off the Apple Daily building in Tseung Kwan O a day later.

The three firms were tried and convicted alongside the Apple Daily founder in his high-profile national security case. Lai was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in early February, while the companies were each fined over HK$3 million.

Political commentator appears in court

A Hong Kong political commentator charged with disclosing details of a national security investigation appeared at the District Court on April 28.

Wong Kwok-ngon, known by his pen name Wong On-yin, has been detained since his arrest in December for allegedly divulging in a YouTube video details of enquiries made by police during a national security investigation.

Judge Stanley Chan said the pre-trial review would take place behind closed doors on August 11, and the trial would begin on October 9.

Wong’s offence falls under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, a homegrown security law known as Article 23. It was added to the ordinance in May as part of subsidiary legislation, and Wong is the first to be charged under the new law.

He is also charged with sedition over videos posted on YouTube between January 3 and December 6 last year. He plans to plead not guilty to both charges.

The defendant, who continues to represent himself, told the court he had dropped his legal aid application.

Asked by the judge whether he had legal knowledge for self-defence, Wong said he had “three law degrees” and was confident of handling the case.

Nat. security clauses for restaurant licences

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said in early April that all Hong Kong restaurant licences would include national security clauses from September.

Tse made the remarks on April 7, nearly a year after the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) introduced the provisions for restaurant licence renewals in May.

“With restaurants renewing their licences gradually, we expect that by September this year, all restaurant licences will contain the clauses,” Tse told reporters, according to RTHK.

Retiree jailed over seditious Facebook posts

A Hong Kong man was jailed for a year under the city’s homegrown national security law after pleading guilty to making seditious remarks on Facebook, including comments supporting Hong Kong’s and Taiwan’s independence.

Raymond Chong pleaded guilty before national security judge Victor So at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on April 14 to one count of knowingly publishing publications with a seditious intention – an offence under the city’s local security law, also known as Article 23.

The magistrate handed Chong, a retiree in his early 60s, an 18-month sentence but discounted it by six months after considering his guilty plea.

Chong was accused of making 53 seditious social media posts between March 2024 and November 2025, local media reported.

The posts had wording such as “dissolving the Chinese Communist Party is the most important thing” and “Hong Kong independence is within sight.”

The defendant posted on a public Facebook page called “Holy Raymond,” which features the Chinese phrase “Heaven will destroy the Chinese Communist Party, God bless Hong Kong” as its profile picture.

During mitigation ahead of sentencing, his lawyer argued that Chong was a Falun Gong believer who had come to hate the Chinese Communist Party because of false information that the CCP engaged in live organ harvesting.

Beijing official warned of ‘politicising’ Tai Po fire

China’s top official in charge of Hong Kong affairs warned of some people who “politicised” the deadly Tai Po fire and tried to use the disaster to “stir up chaos” in Hong Kong.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, delivered his remarks on April 15 via a recorded video shown at a National Security Education Day ceremony.

In his speech, Xia mentioned the massive fire that broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing estate in Tai Po, on November 26, killing 168 people.

“After the Tai Po fire, some malicious people politicised the tragedy, attempting to use the disaster as a means to disrupt Hong Kong,” Xia said in Mandarin, without giving further details.

“Once again, it reminds us that along Hong Kong’s path toward prosperity under good governance, there will be various risks and challenges.”

Speaking at the same event, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee also warned that some people were “using the disaster to stir up chaos” and “to incite hatred” in Hong Kong.

“Only through the government’s swift action and decisive law enforcement has the situation been able to return to normal,” Lee said in Mandarin.

French journalist denied entry to city

A French journalist was denied entry to Hong Kong in November, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in late April, accusing the city’s authorities of “weaponising visas” against foreign media workers.

Antoine Vedeilhe, who was shooting a documentary for French public broadcaster France Télévisions, was questioned upon arrival at Hong Kong International Airport on November 2 last year, RSF said in a statement on April 24.

He was detained for three hours before being deported without being given a reason, it added.

The press freedom NGO said Vedeilhe was the 13th foreign media worker who had been denied entry or a visa by the city’s authorities following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law in 2020.

“In the journalist’s view, his detention was a reprisal for his work on a documentary examining Beijing’s grip on Hong Kong,” RSF said.

Another cameraman for the documentary was able to enter the city, RSF said, but he was followed by “unidentified individuals that he suspects were Hong Kong’s national security police.”

“In the following days, there was a hacking attempt on Vedeilhe’s private email account and his sources in the documentary were harassed by the national security police,” the NGO said.

In an emailed reply to HKFP’s enquiries, the Hong Kong government said it “strongly condemns the smearing remarks and distorted narratives by” RSF.

Prosecution and arrests figures

As of April 1, a total of 394 people have been arrested for “cases involving suspected acts or activities that endanger national security” since Beijing’s national security law came into effect, according to the Security Bureau. That figure includes those arrested under Article 23 and for other offences.

Of the 208 people and five companies that have so far been charged, 180 people and four companies have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.

In total, 100 people and four companies have been charged under Beijing’s national security law, with 79 persons and three companies convicted. Thirteen people have been charged under Article 23, 10 of whom have been convicted.

The smell of smoke filled the flat as Mr and Mrs Wong brought home eight red-white-blue and IKEA bags filled with their belongings, retrieved from their old home, now charred and damaged by the fire.

Their daughter should have been overjoyed to have been reunited with her collection of storybooks, but all she could do was recoil from the smell of ash still lingering on the paperbacks six months after the fire at Wang Fuk Court last November.

The Wongs were among residents who returned to their fire-scorched flats to retrieve their belongings from mid-April to early May. On their allocated day, Wang Fuk Court residents made their way up the estate’s stairwells, racing against a three-hour time limit to retrieve what they could, reminisce in their former homes, and pay respects to the dead.

It was also a cathartic experience for some, as they struggled to pick up the pieces – literally and figuratively – in the wake of the deadly tragedy.

The inferno at the government-subsidised estate in Tai Po in November last year killed 168 people and has since displaced thousands of others. An inquiry hearing is under way to identify the cause of the fire – the city’s deadliest in decades – and hear testimony from residents, government officers, and others.

The Wong family was able to salvage some keepsakes and belongings, including the daughter’s books and birthday cards from friends, an old photo album, and a hard drive containing pictures and videos from the past decade.

“Some of the books were gifts from friends, and some of them she bought with her own pocket money. When she saw that the things in Wang Fuk Court had come back, she was so happy. But at the same time, all of those things smelled of smoke,” said Mrs Wong, who declined to disclose her full name for privacy reasons.

She recalled that her daughter, unable to withstand the stench, retreated to her room. “She said, ‘I have to hide in my room, the living room smells so bad!’”

Nearly six months after the fire, the nine-year-old girl is still reeling from the trauma. She “has become quite sensitive to certain smells and sounds, even the school bell,” Mrs Wong told HKFP in a phone interview this month.

The 38-year-old mother was worried that the smell of smoke – if it continued to linger – might bring up her daughter’s memories of the escape from the burning complex. Both she and her daughter have started seeing a psychologist to process the emotional fallout.

On the fateful day in late November, Mrs Wong was working at a local nursery when a neighbour called to tell her the estate was on fire. Her daughter and father-in-law were at home. Both Mr and Mrs Wong tried to call the grandfather multiple times, and luckily, the husband’s call went through.

The girl and her grandfather made their way down the 27 floors and exited the building through the back entrance – some 20 minutes after the fire broke out.

The Wongs are now living in a rented flat in Tai Po, the same district as their old home. Smoke from incense at a nearby traditional temple and sirens from a fire depot have also become triggers for the young girl.

For herself, Mrs Wong recovered some clothes that her mother-in-law had tailored to fit her. The family is still searching for an SD card containing 10 years’ worth of photos, including those of her daughter’s birth, hoping it will still be intact in the wreckage.

Mrs Wong told HKFP that she wept as she climbed all the way up to the 27th-floor flat at Wang Tai House, the second block at Wang Fuk Court that caught fire, earlier this month. To her surprise, their flat appeared to be largely untouched by the flames, though the intense heat from above and below her flat had mangled the ceiling and floor.

Before heading back to their old flat, she had resigned herself to the possibility that it might also be her last chance for a farewell. “What I wanted was to properly say goodbye to the flat,” Mrs Wong said.

Hong Kong authorities are set on a plan to buy out seven blocks at Wang Fuk Court for HK$6.8 billion and one tower largely unaffected by the blaze for another HK$1 billion, as well as to tear down the estate and turn it into a park or community facility.

“Every time I thought of going back, I would cry. I would worry about crying so hard that I wouldn’t have time to pack,” she said. “But I couldn’t let myself do that. I had to steel my nerves and pack up.”

Mrs Wong also brought flowers to pay her respects to her neighbour who died in the fire. “Looking at the other badly burnt units, I was reminded of all the people who left us,” she said.

Unfortunately, she did not have time to say proper goodbyes because she had to get back to packing.

The 27-storey slog up and down the building left the Wongs pressed for time. They were told to leave almost 30 minutes before their three hours were up to account for the time it would take to move all their things downstairs.

“I had hoped I would have some time to sit down and let things sink in, but I couldn’t even have that,” she said. To the family’s relief, the government has said residents will have a second chance to return to the estate. “Given a choice, I would pack up the entire place with me,” she said.

Carbon Yip, who lived in a sixth-floor flat in the neighbouring Wang Cheong House, the first block that caught fire, is planning his second trip back to the estate.

“I’ll take every single opportunity to go back,” said Yip, who spent almost three decades of his life at the estate. “The last time I was home was when I left for work that day, and now we’re back.”

Yip and his wife, Karen, moved into their flat after they got married, in the block neighbouring the tower where his childhood home was. “It wasn’t just property, it was the place where I grew up,” he said about Wang Fuk Court.

“Even if we’re done packing up, if we are allowed back, I’d still want to go back, even if it’s just to sit.”

The couple, along with his older brother and father, returned to Wang Fuk Court last month, donning hard hats and name tags. They packed up their lives at the estate into about 30-odd bags, most of which have been placed into a storage unit in a nearby industrial district.

The family first went to Carbon Yip’s home and days later to his father’s flat in Wang Tai House.

They returned to the flats weeks after the father, Yip Ka-kui, also known as Sdanni Yip, gave a moving testimony before an independent committee investigating the cause of the fire and its rapid spread.

At the hearing, Sdanni Yip, who repeatedly reported potential fire hazards at the estate to authorities, accused the government of “evading responsibility.” He also gave a heartfelt tribute to his late wife, Pak Shui-lin, who spent her final moments knocking on doors to notify other residents of the fire.

The Yip family’s designated social worker showed them photos of the flat before they returned so they would have a better idea of what to look for. However, even then, Carbon Yip couldn’t prepare himself for the weight of stepping back into his home.

“I had to collect myself before I could start packing, because the emotions were overwhelming,” he said, recalling the trip back to Wang Cheong House. “I don’t think anyone could accept seeing their home looking that way.”

Carbon Yip, 36, lost much of his Gundam and Digimon figurine collection to the fire. He discovered the models had melted and fused into a single unrecognisable lump of plastic. He had to throw out a large part of his Pokémon card collection, including limited anniversary-edition cases that warped and melted in the fire.

However, he managed to salvage a commemorative crystal block made to remember their pet dog, who died early last year after about 16 years with the family. The memento was stashed away in a box, which shielded it from the worst of the fire.

Returning home reminded him of his late mother. Pak took care of their late dog, whom she called her “granddaughter,” while he and his wife worked.

“’Your daughter isn’t eating again!’ – she used to tell me whenever [the dog] was being a picky eater,” Carbon Yip said.

Carbon Yip, his wife, and his father have moved in with the elder brother. Seven family members are crammed into a three-bedroom flat, just a 15-minute walk from Wang Fuk Court.

“Being able to get these things back, our home can now feel a little bit more complete,” Carbon Yip said.

The landmark trial of Tiananmen vigil activists neared its conclusion in May, with both defendants and prosecutors delivering their closing submissions.

The government allocated more money to the national security fund and lashed out at Reporters Without Borders (RSF) after the NGO once again placed Hong Kong low on its annual press freedom index.

Trial of Tiananmen vigil activists

The national security trial of Tiananmen vigil activists Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan heard closing arguments from the defendants and the prosecution. Lee and Chow were leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

Lee’s defence lawyer, Erik Shum, spoke before a three-judge panel on May 18, urging the court not to merely “pay lip service” to human rights protections.

He argued that calls to “end one-party rule” in China should be considered legitimate political expression.

Lee, Chow, and the Alliance are facing a charge of “inciting subversion,” an offence under the Beijing-imposed national security law, over the group’s calls to end one-party rule in China during decades of candlelight vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars.

The Alliance had never proposed an “action plan” to mobilise supporters to topple the CCP, the lawyer said. “In the past 30 years, there has been no evidence showing that any person acted under the Alliance’s specific instruction,” Shum said in Cantonese.

In his closing submission, prosecutor Ned Lai argued the Alliance’s calls had exceeded the legitimate boundary of freedom of expression as the defendants intended to stoke hatred against Beijing.

“We say that their behaviour had crossed the line,” he said in Cantonese. “Freedom is not absolute.”

Chow, a barrister who represents herself in the trial, delivered her closing arguments on May 19.

She urged the court to safeguard the “dignity and bottom line of the law” and warned the judges not to become “accomplices” in an alleged government crackdown on free speech.

Chow said the crux of the case was whether the law protects the “perpetual rule” of the CCP or the rights of people to advocate democracy.

“Ending one-party rule means putting an end to the status quo, in which those in power are not bound by the law,” she said in Cantonese.

Senior counsel Priscilia Lam, representing the Alliance, argued the prosecution had not been able to present evidence of the group’s alleged incitement to subversion.

“What did the Alliance do to incite people to subvert state power?” Lam said in Cantonese. “I have heard nothing on this after sitting here for so long.”

The Alliance disbanded in 2021 after authorities banned the vigil for two years, citing Covid-19 restrictions, and arrested its leadership on national security allegations. Chow and Lee have been behind bars since September 2021.

Another defendant, former lawmaker Albert Ho, pleaded guilty when the trial opened in January.

The three-judge panel said they hope to deliver a verdict in “mid or late July.”

Gov’t reacts to UK trial conviction

The Hong Kong government denied any link to a high-profile UK court case after its trade officer was convicted of spying on overseas activists.

“From the outset, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has been clearly stating that the allegations in this case are absolutely not related to the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London (London ETO), nor are we party to the case,” a government statement sent to the media on May 8.

The statement was issued a day after Bill Yuen, an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, and former UK Border Force official Peter Wai were found guilty under Britain’s national security laws of assisting a foreign intelligence service.

Yuen and Wai – both British-Chinese dual nationals – were accused of spying on Hong Kong pro-democracy activists living in Britain.

Among those the pair were said to have surveilled was Nathan Law, who is wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police with a bounty of HK$1,000,000.

Wanted activist arrested in Thailand

Hong Kong authorities declined to comment on reports that an activist wanted by the city’s national security police could face deportation to China after being arrested in Thailand for allegedly overstaying her visa.

Responding to media queries about concerns that wanted activist Zhang Xinyan could be transferred to China, the Security Bureau said on May 11 that it would not comment on news reports about law enforcement actions in other jurisdictions.

“Endangering national security is an extremely serious crime… no fugitive should harbour the illusion that they can evade criminal liability by fleeing Hong Kong,” the bureau said in a statement.

Zhang, 54, is wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police for allegedly committing subversion, a crime under Article 23 – also known as the city’s homegrown national security law.

She is among a group of 19 activists named in a round of arrest warrants issued in July 2025, with bounties between HK$200,000 and HK$1 million.

From February to June 2025, they were allegedly involved in the “Hong Kong Parliament,” a group of overseas activists who held unofficial polls outside the city to form a shadow legislature to “pursue the ideal of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.”

According to Human Rights Watch, Zhang holds refugee status issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

New allocation for national security fund

The Hong Kong government allocated an additional HK$5 billion to a national security special fund.

The government unveiled the funding on May 15, when it gazetted the government accounts for the fiscal year 2025-26.

It was the third allocation for national security since Beijing imposed the national security law in Hong Kong in June 2020.

The special fund was established the same year. It received an initial allocation of HK$8 billion in December 2020 and an additional HK$5 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2023.

The latest allocation thus brought the total amount to HK$18 billion.

In response to Ming Pao’s enquiry, the Financial Secretary’s Office said authorities will not disclose details of the funding, citing Article 14 of the national security law. It did not respond to whether the previous HK$13 billion funding had been depleted.

Worsening press freedom, FCC survey finds

Two out of three journalists say the working environment in Hong Kong has changed “for the worse” in the past year, according to the latest survey by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, released on May 11.

The 2026 FCC Press Freedom Survey, which received 78 responses from members, found that “67 per cent of respondents said the working environment for them as a journalist had changed for the worse in the last 12 months.”

The FCC pointed out that the survey “happened to take place” after Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai was convicted and sentenced to jail, as well as Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong, the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), summoned representatives of several major foreign media outlets, shortly following the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire.

One respondent said that the warning by the OSNS to foreign journalists “should be seen as a watershed moment here in Hong Kong. It has created an increased chilling effect.”

Another respondent said that the 20-year sentence handed down to Lai “only further chills the local reporting environment.”

Gov’t reacts to RSF press freedom index

The Hong Kong government and the Legislative Council (LegCo) condemned Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in early May after the city was ranked low in the NGO’s annual press freedom index.

They also hit out after German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) awarded Lai, the jailed media tycoon, a press freedom prize on April 30.

In RSF’s 2026 global press freedom index, released on April 30, Hong Kong was ranked 140th out of 180 countries and territories – the same position as last year. The press freedom NGO highlighted the 20-year sentence handed down to Lai, who was convicted last year under the security law.

In response, the Hong Kong government issued a press release on May 1. It said that it “strongly condemned the attempts by an anti-China organisation and foreign media to sugarcoat the criminal acts of national security offender [Jimmy] Lai Chee-ying and to slander, smear, as well as attack the HKSAR by releasing a so-called press freedom index and presenting a so-called ‘award’. Such despicable behaviours totally disregarded the rule of law and twisted the facts, which must be strongly condemned.”

In a separate statement on the same day, the LegCo Secretariat said it “strongly condemned the release of a so-called press freedom index by a foreign media organisation and presentation of a so-called award to the national security offender Lai Chee-ying to sugarcoat his criminal acts, and smear the press freedom and rule of law” in Hong Kong.

RSF’s Aleksandra Bielakowska – who was denied entry to the city in 2024 – responded to the Hong Kong authorities.

“To make it clear once again: defending journalism is not ‘anti-China’; it is pro–press freedom,” she said on May 2. “At RSF, we stand arm in arm with Hong Kong journalists. We will not be intimidated and we continue supporting all media in Hong Kong, with the hope that one day we will see positive change and that the city will return to its golden years as an exemplar and beacon of press freedom.”

3 charged over alleged weapons training

Three people were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion after they were arrested by national security police over alleged illegal weapons training last year.

Students Wong Kit-lun, 20, and Tang Ngai-pok, 23, as well as waiter Chan Hiu-chun, 23, appeared at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on May 15.

The trio stood in the dock beside Gallian Pang and Lee Chun-sum, who were also charged with conspiring to subvert state power – an offence under the Beijing-imposed national security law – on December 15.

The five men are among a group of 10 people – nine men and one woman – arrested on December 11 and 12 for alleged “unlawful drilling” – an offence under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, the homegrown national security law, also known as Article 23. The arrests marked the first time authorities had invoked the unlawful drilling offence.

Last month, the prosecution accused Wong, Tang and Chan of conspiring with Pang, Lee and “other persons unknown between November 1, 2024, and December 11, 2025, to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts to subvert the state power.”

Wong faced an additional charge of possession of child pornography, an offence under the Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance.

The prosecution also charged Lee with allegedly possessing explosives and radio communications apparatus without a licence.

Prosecution and arrests figures

As of May 1, a total of 399 people have been arrested for “cases involving suspected acts or activities that endanger national security” since Beijing’s national security law came into effect, according to the Security Bureau. That figure includes those arrested under Article 23 and for other offences.

Of the 208 people and five companies that have so far been charged, 181 people and four companies have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.

In total, 100 people and four companies have been charged under Beijing’s national security law, with 79 persons and three companies convicted. Thirteen people have been charged under Article 23, 11 of whom have been convicted.

The Hong Kong government said it has issued buyback offer letters to homeowners of the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court, moving forward with its plan to acquire property titles from displaced residents.

The government said on Thursday that it has distributed “letters of offer” to flat owners of the seven blocks affected in the massive inferno in November that killed 168 people – Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades.

The move follows the authorities’ announcement in February that they would spend up to HK$6.8 billion to buy back flats from owners. The budget consists of HK$4 billion in taxpayers’ money and HK$2.8 billion from a support fund largely made up of public donations.

Owners can choose cash or a flat swap for a new government-subsidised unit under a special sales scheme, according to the February plan.

The government has established a company named Wang Fuk Court Property Rights Acquisition Limited, which has distributed the offer letters to owners, it said on Thursday.

Owners have until August 31 to sign a “letter of acceptance” enclosed with the offer letter and return it to the company if they choose to accept the acquisition, it said.

“Upon receipt of the owners’ duly signed ‘Letter of Acceptance,’ the government will make every effort to promptly assist in completing the Agreement for Sale and Purchase and the [Deed of] Assignment,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.

Early flat selection

For owners who opt for cash, authorities will expedite the payment for them to make purchases in the private market, the government said.

Those who want to participate in the government’s special sales scheme will be allowed to select their flats earlier if they accept the buyback offer quickly, authorities added.

They will receive priority if they return the letter of acceptance by June 30.

For homeowners of Wang Chi House, the only block not affected by the blaze, the government said that if 75 per cent of owners sign the letter of acceptance by June 30, the buyback plan will be made available to them. The government previously said buying out Wang Chi House would require an additional HK1 billion.

The Thursday statement did not mention what arrangements were available for those choosing not to accept the government’s buyback offers.

Amid calls from some residents for the housing estate to be rebuilt at its original location, the government has said that the buyback plan is final.

Authorities said the seven towers hit by flames suffered “irreversible” internal damage, and that they would be torn down to build a park or other community facilities.

However, some residents expressed scepticism about the government’s proposal after a public inquiry into the fire revealed that damage was concentrated in a number of buildings.

Some residents also expressed a desire to return to the estate after they were allowed to return to their homes to retrieve their personal belongings and found their flats largely unscathed, according to local media.

Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong, who is leading the buyback plan, said in February that the government would study whether “special legislation” would be needed if some owners refuse to sell their flats.

The Hong Kong government has launched a public consultation on proposed amendments to the city’s fire safety law, six months after the deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po.

According to a government statement on Tuesday, the one-month consultation aims to enhance “public safety, regulatory coherence, enforcement effectiveness and accountability,” as well as to respond to public expectations for improved fire safety following the deadly blaze in November.

The proposed amendments will cover the Fire Services Ordinance and three subsidiary pieces of legislation on fire safety equipment in buildings, the professionals who oversee them, and the Fire Services Department’s powers to abate fire hazards, a Security Bureau spokesperson said.

“We will also take this opportunity to appropriately enhance the enforcement powers of the Fire Services Department (FSD) in specific areas and combat illicit fuelling activities, among others,” the spokesperson added.

See also: ‘Not good enough’: Key points from gov’t departments’ testimony at Tai Po fire inquiry

Tuesday marked six months since the fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court on November 26.

The blaze, which killed 168 people and displaced thousands of residents, exposed shortcomings in the FSD’s role in overseeing fire safety during major renovation works at densely populated housing estates, with officials pledging reforms at a public inquiry into the tragedy.

Tuesday’s proposals were made by the government’s Task Force on Strengthening Fire Safety Governance, established after the fire and chaired by Secretary for Security Chris Tang.

Members of the public may submit their views on the proposals by email or regular mail until June 25.

According to the statement, the government hopes to finalise the proposals and table a bill in the Legislative Council later this year.

Seven people and two firms that oversaw renovation works at Wang Fuk Court, the site of the city’s deadliest fire in decades, have been charged with manslaughter and a slew of other offences.

Three directors and employees at the two companies were among those formally charged by police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on Wednesday.

The defendants face a total of 25 charges, including manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, attempting to pervert the course of public justice, and tax evasion.

The blaze at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing estate in Tai Po, in November killed 168 people and displaced thousands of residents.

‘Gross negligence’

According to the charge sheets, the two firms are Prestige Construction & Engineering, the main contractor for the HK$330 million renovation project at Wang Fuk Court, and Will Power Architects, the consultancy firm overseeing the government-mandated work.

Among the seven individuals charged are Will Power director Wong Hap-yin, its registered inspector Wilson Ng, and Prestige Construction director Ho Kin-yip.

Wong, Ng and Ho, along with their two companies, were charged with five counts of manslaughter.

The other four defendants are: Hau Wa-kin, another director at Prestige; Chung So-fan, Wong’s wife; Hung Kwok-wai, Wong’s friend; and Lin Min, assistant manager at Will Power.

The charge sheets also included the names of the 168 people killed in the fire.

Senior Superintendent Basil Tang of the New Territories North Regional Crime Unit said at a press conference on Wednesday, “The firms and individuals responsible for the Wang Fuk Court renovation project failed in their duty of care and displayed gross negligence in their supervision of construction materials and engineering protocols.”

Police investigation found key safety violations, including the use of non-flame-retardant scaffold netting and flammable foam boards, and the removal of windows along the emergency escape stairwell, Tang also said.

Tang told reporters that the three men charged with manslaughter were denied bail and the case had been adjourned to September 2 for the next court mention.

Bid rigging

At the same press conference, ICAC Principal Investigator Hazel Law said that Wong, Ho and Hau colluded to rig the tendering process and favour Prestige by omitting the contractor’s conviction records from tender documents.

Ng, who was tasked with overseeing the inspection and supervision of the repair work, “completely failed to carry out the inspections and responsibilities required of his professional role,” Law said.

“We suspect that this tragedy was fuelled entirely by individual greed,” she said. The defendants “not only failed to carry out their professional responsibilities but resorted to deep-seated corruption and fraud to achieve their objectives, displaying a disregard for the lives and properties of the residents.”

According to a police statement on Wednesday, the force and the ICAC laid the charges following investigations, and after seeking legal advice from the Department of Justice.

A Hong Kong company appointed by the government to administer the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court has asked the Lands Tribunal to postpone a statutory deadline for holding a homeowners’ meeting.

Hectar Pun, a lawyer representing Hop On Management, told the tribunal on Monday that the firm had faced challenges in verifying signatures and finding venues for the meeting.

Hop On, a subsidiary of real estate giant Chinachem Group, applied to the Lands Tribunal to postpone the May 13 deadline for notifying owners of the meeting and the June 13 deadline for convening the meeting.

Judge Gary Lam noted that Hop On had made an ex parte application – a request for a court order without the presence of the opposing party – and told the firm to consider the matter from the perspective of the flat owners.

He also asked whether the court should postpone the deadline every time Hop On encountered difficulties. Pun replied that the tribunal has the judicial powers to make delays as long as there is “good cause” to do so.

Judge Lam said that the court would hand down its decision at 3pm on Tuesday.

Hop On was appointed by the government to take over administrative duties at Wang Fuk Court from the board of the owners’ corporation weeks after the deadly November fire at the Tai Po housing estate.

The Lands Tribunal granted the government’s appointment of the firm in early January.

Homeowners’ petition

Hop On said last month that it would apply to the tribunal to extend the deadline for holding a homeowners’ meeting after it received a petition with 247 handwritten signatures asking the firm to meet with flat owners to discuss long-term resettlement and related financial matters.

The total number of signatures supporting the petition exceeded the 5 per cent threshold needed to convene a meeting stipulated by the Building Management Ordinance.

See also: Tai Po fire: Residents say ‘no choice’ but to accept buyback as deadline looms

According to the ordinance, the management committee should issue notice of the meeting within 14 days and hold the general meeting with owners within 45 days.

Wang Fuk Court resident Jason Kong, one of the petition’s organisers and a former board member, was arrested for alleged government loan fraud last month, two weeks after delivering the petition.

After he was released from police detention, he said he would no longer take media interviews.

The administrator of the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court has said it is studying the Lands Tribunal’s judgment after the court denied its bid to extend the statutory deadline for an owners’ meeting.

Replying to media enquiries, Hop On Management, the government-appointed administrator of the housing estate, also said on Wednesday that it would continue to verify signatures in the petition from homeowners and would hold a meeting as requested.

Just a day earlier, the Lands Tribunal denied Hop On’s application to postpone the deadline for convening and holding an owners’ meeting, as required by the Buildings Management Ordinance (BMO), after the company received the homeowners’ petition.

Hop On also said on Wednesday that it made the application due to the extensive preparations for the meeting and that it hoped all homeowners would have a “fair opportunity” to participate in the meeting.

Hop On added that it appreciated the tribunal’s acknowledgement of the administrator’s efforts in contacting homeowners.

In his Tuesday judgment, Judge Gary Lam, presiding officer of the Lands Tribunal, said that the firm’s difficulty in contacting owners was “not insurmountable” as it had managed to collect addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of 1,601 owners out of 1,984 units at the Tai Po housing estate.

He also said it was “plain and obvious” that the BMO does not give the tribunal jurisdiction to extend the statutory deadline for holding owners’ meetings.

Replying to press enquiries, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) said that Lam’s ruling involved the interpretation of the BMO and that the government would study the judgment.

The department also noted that the tribunal gave Hop On and the HAD “credit” for their efforts in issuing notices and convening the meeting, given the exceptional circumstances.

On April 29, Hop On, a subsidiary of real estate giant Chinachem Group, received a petition with 247 handwritten signatures asking the firm to meet with flat owners to discuss long-term resettlement and related financial matters.

The total number of signatures supporting the petition exceeded the 5 per cent threshold needed to convene a meeting stipulated by the BMO.

According to the ordinance, the management committee should issue notice of the meeting within 14 days and hold the general meeting with owners within 45 days.