CFHK Foundation’s Frances Hui lights a remembrance candle with Rowena He, a former Chinese University of Hong Kong professor who was abruptly expelled for continuing to commemorate June 4. (Bing Bong)

Top News

Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation staff gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation commemoration of the June 4 ,1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre.

CFHK Foundation staff also joined members of Congress at a separate Tiananmen memorial event in Washington, hosted by the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In the British Parliament, CFHK Foundation hosted a panel event, “British Detainees and the Legal Right to Consular Assistance,” chaired by Greggory Stafford MP and featuring speakers including ARTICLE 19’s Executive Director Quinn McKew, Doughty Street Chambers’ Adam Wagner KC, and CFHK Director Mark Sabah.

(From left to right) Adam Wagner KC, CFHK Foundation’s Mark Sabah,
Greg Stafford MP, and Quinn McKew in the British Parliament.

Hong Kong

Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy figures, was charged with “colluding with foreign forces” under the National Security Law while in prison, authorities said today. The 28-year-old is already serving a four-year and eight-month prison sentence for “inciting subversion” over his involvement in an unofficial opposition primary in 2020.

Police arrested two people for “behaving suspiciously” and detained 10 others for “breaching the peace” as part of an intense security operation, including the deployment of an armoured car, designed to prevent people from commemorating victims of the June 4 massacre.

Lawmakers on Wednesday approved the appointment of 73-year-old New Zealand judge William Young to the Court of Final Appeal. He becomes the first foreign judge to join Hong Kong’s top court since we published our May 2024 report, “Lending Prestige to Persecution: How Foreign Judges are Undermining Hong Kong’s Freedoms and Why They Should Quit.”

UK – Hong Kong

CFHK Foundation Policy and Advocacy Junior Manager Chloe Cheung shared remarks at a Henry Jackson Society (HJS) parliamentary event, “Tiananmen Square: 36 Years On,” chaired by Iain Duncan Smith MP. She spoke alongside our Advisory Board member Wu’er Kaixi, one of the leaders of the 1989 protests, and Professor Matt Qvortrup.

CFHK Foundation’s Chloe Cheung with our Advisory Board member
Wu’er Kaixi after the Henry Jackson Society event.

CFHK Foundation Director Mark Sabah told French publication La Croix that while it is becoming harder for Hong Kong people to publicly commemorate Tiananmen Square, people continue to do so in private. “If people do it at home, it’s out of principle. It’s their rebellion against the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.

For the Sunday Times, John Beck interviewed Chloe Cheung about her experience of transnational repression in the UK, including being followed by suspicious men after a Lunar New Year event.

North America – Hong Kong

CFHK’s Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Frances Hui attended the China Human Rights Forum organised by Global Affairs Canada. She spoke to representatives of ​over a dozen governments, along with civil society members, about the People’s Republic of China’s use of lawfare and its impact on judicial independence and media freedom.

Representative Brian FitzPatrick (R–PA) cosponsored the Hong Kong Sanctions Act, led by Representatives Young Kim (R–CA) and Jim McGovern (D-MA), marking another step towards passing legislation that will hold complicit judges and prosecutors accountable for their repression of Hong Kong people.

Jimmy Lai Biography, ‘Troublemaker’ Updates

CFHK Foundation President Mark Clifford tells William Saunders of Catholic University of America’s The Barefoot Lawyer Reports podcast about Jimmy Lai’s trial and the bogus charges against him.

🔥Flame of Freedom Blogs

The Spirit of Tiananmen in Hong Kong: A Flame That Refuses to Die

This blog is authored by Zhou Fengsuo, a Tiananmen Square student leader and currently Executive Director of Human Rights in China and President of Humanitarian China.

“In the spring of 1989, as a student leader standing in Tiananmen Square, I encountered a man who had travelled from colonial Hong Kong to show support for our movement. It was the first time I had met someone from Hong Kong. In that moment of solidarity, I felt the invisible wall between us dissolve. Though we lived under vastly different systems, we were united by a shared yearning — for truth, for dignity, and for a future China that could embrace freedom.

That moment left a deep impression. Ever since the massacre of June 4, I have found myself in the same camp as countless Hong Kongers who refused to let the truth die. While the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has worked relentlessly to erase the memory of Tiananmen — by censoring the internet, rewriting history, and jailing those who dare to remember — Hong Kong stood as the last beacon of collective remembrance on Chinese soil…

Read the full blog here

Imagining a Free Hong Kong at the Oslo Freedom Forum

This blog is authored by Chloe Cheung, Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation Advocacy and Public Affairs Junior Manager.

“We highlighted Hong Kong’s complicity in the Russian war on Ukraine. While officials in the city hosted global investors, Russian weapons components were being routed through Hong Kong to hide their true destination. Since the National Security Law, institutions once known for transparency and the rule of law have been repurposed to shield dictators and suppress dissent. Yet, major Western banks continue to operate in Hong Kong as if nothing has changed, as if businesses are “as usual,” turning a blind eye, or worse still, enabling repression.

That’s why the CFHK Foundation is supporting legislative efforts in the U.S. House and Senate to designate Hong Kong a Primary Money Laundering Concern jurisdiction, alongside a push for stronger enforcement of existing sanctions. Hong Kong has become a powerful example of how a once-free society can be twisted and weaponised. It is no longer just a local issue. It is on the frontline of the battle between and authoritarian regimes and democracy…”

Read the full blog here