RFA English China

Read a version of this story at RFA Mandarin A Hong Kong court this month convicted two leaders of a dissolved pro-democracy group to erase the memory of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, a pro-democracy activist who was a student leader during the 1989 event told Radio Free Asia. The Hong Kong High Court ruled Aug. 21 that the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, its former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and its former vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung, were guilty of “inciting subversion of state power.” The Alliance is best known for organizing yearly candlelight vigils in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park each year in remembrance of the Tiananmen incident, a practice that continued until 2019. In 2020 authorities stopped the vigil citing health concerns during the pandemic, then from 2021 onward they were able to use Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law to end it permanently. Erasing the past The verdict is intended to discourage commemorations of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Wang Dan, who was a student leader of the protests in 1989, told RFA. “The authorities clearly hope to use this verdict to erase every trace of history and prevent Hong Kong people from remembering June 4th,” he said, referring to the massacre by the date which it occurred, as is customary in Chinese. Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Lee Cheuk-yan, left, and Chow Hang-tung posing during photo sessions in Hong Kong on March 21, 2021. (Peter Parks/AFP) Wang said that he does not believe authorities can succeed in erasing the event from the public consciousness. “Such a verdict will only lead more people to commemorate it in silence,” he said. “Silent remembrance is still remembrance. The memories people carry in their hearts cannot be completely destroyed by such brutal acts.” In September 2021, authorities arrested Lee, Chow, and another former chairman of the Alliance, Albert Ho, with “inciting subversion of state power.” The Alliance voted to dissolve on Sept. 25 of that year. Lee and Chow were held in custody until the trial, which began in January of this year. Ho was initially held in custody but was briefly let out on bail for medical grounds in 2022, then returned into custody in 2023. Ho pleaded guilty while Lee and Chow both pleaded innocent. The court on Aug. 21 found Lee, Chow, and the disbanded organization guilty. Legal argument A core point of contention in this case is the Hong Kong Alliance’s long-standing call to “end one-party rule.” The court held that after the implementation of the National Security Law in 2020, the Hong Kong Alliance and its leaders continued to promote this goal and incited others to carry out acts of subversion of state power by illegal means. A 2014 photo shows people attending a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the June 4th Tiananmen crackdown. (RFA) During the trial, Lee and Chow argued that “ending one-party rule” was about promoting democratic transition and did not equate to demanding an end to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, while also believing that related political expressions were protected by freedom of speech in Hong Kong. However, the court did not accept this argument. The Hong Kong Police National Security Department stated that the court’s ruling was in line with their view of the case. The police also noted that the Alliance continued to hold rallies, exhibitions, street campaigns, and online memorial activities after the law went into effect. Sentences are yet to be determined, but the two could face up to 10 years in prison. Edited by Eugene Whong.

RFA English China

China’s test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the Pacific this week was aimed at signaling its growing military reach to U.S. allies across the region, analysts told Radio Free Asia, as Beijing sought to frame the launch as a routine exercise. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported Monday that a Chinese navy submarine launched a missile carrying a dummy warhead toward international waters in the Pacific at 12:01 p.m. local time, describing it as a “routine arrangement” in annual military training and not directed at any specific country or target. Analysts said the timing and trajectory suggested Beijing was using the test to send a broad political and military message across the Asia-Pacific. “China’s latest ICBM test serves several purposes,” William Yang, a Northeast Asia analyst at the Belgium-based International Crisis Group, told RFA. “It demonstrates the progress in China’s advanced missile capabilities, sends a signal to regional countries, including Australia and other Pacific states, about Beijing’s ability to respond resolutely to what it views as a challenge to its interests, and allows the People’s Liberation Army to maintain regular military drills across the Asia Pacific region.” A nuclear-powered Type 094A Jin-class ballistic missile submarine of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy during a military display in the South China Sea April 12, 2018. (Reuters) Though Yang referred to it as an ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic missile, Xinhua did not specifically use those words. The U.S. State Department called it an “intercontinental-range ballistic missile,” in a statement where it criticized the launch at a time when “the United States is working harder than ever to prevent nuclear proliferation,” and “China is doing the opposite.” The launch also drew criticism from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan, with several governments saying they had received only short notice. The test touched a nerve across the region because it came against the backdrop of intensifying strategic competition in the Pacific, where China, the United States and its allies have been vying for influence over sea lanes, security ties with Pacific Island countries, and military access to the region. For China, the Pacific islands have become an increasingly important diplomatic and strategic arena as Beijing seeks to expand its presence beyond East Asia. For Australia, New Zealand and the United States, the region has become a frontline in efforts to prevent China from translating economic influence into a deeper security foothold. Australia-Fiji treaty The missile landed in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone only hours after Australia and Fiji signed a mutual defense treaty. Yang said the timing was “also a political signal to Canberra and other U.S. allies that China will not be deterred by their efforts to undercut China’s interests in deepening its influence in the Pacific region.” The defense pact, known as the Ocean of Peace, commits Australia and Fiji to assist each other if attacked. It was signed as Canberra has sought to rebuild security ties and trust in the Pacific after years of concern among island governments over climate change, development needs and outside interference. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka before a bilateral meeting at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva on July 6, 2026. (Leon Lord/AFP) China has meanwhile deepened engagement with several Pacific island states through policing, aid and infrastructure agreements, raising alarm in Washington and allied capitals over the possibility of a more permanent Chinese security role in the region. The launch occurred during “a crowded window of allied activity” that included not only the treaty signing – but also on the heels of RIMPAC, Valiant Shield, and Resolute Dragon – U.S.-led bilateral or multilateral military exercises focusing on the broader Pacific region, Aadil Brar, a Taipei-based independent analyst and former visiting scholar at National Chengchi University, told RFA. Message sent Though the Chinese navy said that the launch was directed at no particular country or target, Brar said the distance and direction was deliberate. “That trajectory alone shows the real aim was less about any single target and more about proving China can range deep into the Central Pacific, threading through waters used by the Philippines, Guam-based U.S. forces, and Pacific island states, all at once,” he said. The route described by Brar, from the Chinese coast across the Philippine Sea and south of Guam before landing near the Marshall Islands and Nauru, would have taken the missile through a corridor that matters strategically to both Washington and Beijing. It passes through waters used by U.S. forces based in Guam, near routes that could be critical for moving reinforcements in a regional conflict, including one involving Taiwan. Brar said Taiwan was not directly overflown this time, but the test still carried implications for the island because it demonstrated China’s ability “to hold reinforcement routes at risk well beyond the first island chain,” the arc of islands running from Japan through Taiwan and the Philippines to Borneo, forming a key maritime boundary around China’s near seas. A map of the first and second Pacific island chains. (AFP) Such abilities would complicate any U.S. intervention in a hypothetical Taiwan Strait crisis, he said. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has long warned that Beijing is stepping up military pressure on the democratically governed island through war games, air and naval patrols, and missile development. Chinese officials have not ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control. Still, Yang said he did not think the launch was directly related to Taiwan in this case, arguing that Beijing’s “target audience is the wider region rather than the Taiwanese government,” given its timing alongside the Australia-Fiji agreement and the missile’s launch and impact areas. The test launch might not have been the best strategy for China, Gregory Brown, director of the Alliance Futures Initiative, a Washington-based think tank, told RFA. “I don’t know that the intention from the Chinese is actually to threaten the Pacific Islands or Australia. It certainly got everybody’s attention,” said Brown. “It’s probably an own goal for China to have done this now, because now there’s reason to say this is the sort of thing and sort of behavior why Fiji would want to sign a treaty with Australia or maybe get closer to the United States.” China last publicly conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile test in 2024, in a launch that underscored the country’s growing strategic capabilities and prompted renewed scrutiny of the pace and opacity of its nuclear modernization. Editing and additional reporting by Eugene Whong.