The father of a Hong Kong dissident living in the United States is facing prison after becoming the first family member to be convicted under new “national security” measures aimed at preventing fugitives who have fled overseas from accessing their assets in Hong Kong. File photo by Jerome Favre/EPA-EFE
The father of exiled Hong Kong democracy activist Anna Kwok was convicted Monday under provisions of the territory’s sweeping national security laws that make handling the financial assets of fugitives a criminal offense.
Kwok Yin-sang was found guilty after a four-day trial at West Kowloon Magistrates Court of attempting to cash out an $11,360 life and personal accident insurance policy in his daughter’s name despite an outstanding warrant for her arrest for “endangering national security” issued in 2023, three years after she fled to the United States.
Reading out his 90-minute-long judgment, Acting Principal Magistrate Andy Cheng said Kwok Yin-sang filled out forms in an attempt to access funds from the policy he had taken out for his daughter when she was a young child, despite knowing all rights legally transferred to her when she turned 18.
However, he did so with the help of an agent of the insurance company who subsequently testified against him in exchange for immunity from potential prosecution on fraud or false instruments charges.
Hong Kong police offered a $128,000 bounty for Anna Kwok, 29, and seven other exiled pro-democracy activists in July 2023, before the government canceled their passports and designated them “absconders” in December 2024.
As an “absconder,” she and the others are banned from dealing with funds, other financial assets or economic resources in Hong Kong.
Her father’s case is the first time a family member of a so-called “absconder” has been convicted under the financial provisions of the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, so-called Article 23 legislation enacted locally in the wake of a tough National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
Kwok Yin-sang, 69, faces a mandatory prison term when he reappears in court for sentencing Feb. 26, with his lawyer indicating he would push for a community service order on grounds that Kwok’s crime was a minor “technical offense,” or something slightly more serious, taking into account the size of the sums involved.
Anna Kwok’s 36-year-old brother, who was arrested at the same time as Kwok Yin-sang senior in April 2025, is being prosecuted for the same offenses.
Amnesty International criticized Kwok Yin-sang’s conviction, saying it was aimed at muzzling dissenting voices and “a disturbing escalation in the Hong Kong government’s repressive use of ‘Article 23.'”
“The absurd bounty placed on Anna Kwok’s head due to her activism is already a brazen attack on her freedom of expression. Now, as Hong Kong authorities stoop to a new low, her father faces jail solely for an alleged attempt to access insurance funds belonging to his daughter,” said Hong Kong Overseas spokesperson Joey Siu.
“This apparently politically motivated conviction of an activist’s close relative also sets a dangerous precedent, designed to terrify and silence others who continue to speak out about Hong Kong issues from overseas.
Sui demanded Kwok Yin-sang’s immediate release, along with all others accused of aiding exiled activists, unless the Hong Kong government can demonstrate they are guilty of crimes that are recognized internationally.
The Hong Kong government maintains that the offenses covered under so-called Article 23 are no different to those contained in similar statutes in many Western countries.
The government had been trying to pass the law since 2003 in the face of mass public opposition but eventually succeeded after the National Security Law effectively silenced all critical voices, spelling the death-knell for liberal-democratic hopes in the territory.
The main opposition Democratic Party dissolved itself in December after being permanently excluded from running in elections.
