A Hong Kong court has convicted Portuguese national Joseph John – also known as Wong Kin-chung – of conspiring to perform acts of sedition, multiple media outlets have reported.
John, a 41-year-old UK resident who previously taught music in Hong Kong, was the president of the Hong Kong Independence Party – a now-defunct organisation based in London.
He pleaded guilty to endangering national security through publishing secessionist articles and statements on the group’s website and social media platforms.
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John, who was arrested in Hong Kong in 2022 while visiting family, has been remanded in custody until his sentencing on 11 April.
When handing down his verdict on Tuesday, Judge Ernest Lin said John’s behaviour was tantamount to “starting a fire in Hong Kong” while living in the UK.
The social media posts in question were dated between July 2020 and November 2022 – after large-scale protests against an extradition bill rocked the city. Hong Kong was a British colony until its 1997 retrocession to China.
