Father of exiled Hong Kong activist convicted in unprecedented insurance case under national security law

The father of an exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activist has been convicted in an insurance case on national security charges, in a verdict that has been criticised for setting a “dangerous precedent”.

Activist Anna Kwok’s 68-year-old father, Kwok Yin-sang, was arrested in April 2025 for trying to end her insurance policy and access funds from it. The policy, which he bought when Anna was a toddler, was worth nearly HK$90,000 (8,446).

He became the first person to be charged under the city's new local national security ordinance, called Article 23, raising fears that civil liberties will be further eroded.

The ordinance expanded the Beijing-imposed national security law to include those "attempting to deal with, directly or indirectly, any funds or other financial assets or economic resources" belonging to an absconder, among its other features.

His daughter Anna is one of the 34 overseas activists wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police after she was accused of colluding with foreign forces.

She works as the executive director of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council and Hong Kong authorities offered a bounty of HK$1mn (£93,740) for information leading to her arrest.

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Acting principal magistrate Cheng Lim-chi found Kwok guilty on Wednesday, saying that he must have known his daughter was an absconder and he was attempting to handle her assets.

In previous hearings, the court was told that Kwok bought the insurance policy for Anna when she was a toddler and she gained control of it when she turned 18.

The father in 2025 attempted to cancel the policy and get funds from it, the court heard.

The judge said that since Anna was a fugitive, directly or indirectly handling her insurance policy is illegal.

He was represented by attorney Robert Pang, who also defended Jimmy Lai. This comes just days after former Apple Daily newspaper founder and British citizen Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in jail after convicted in a national security trial, drawing widespread outrage and condemnation.

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During the hearing, Mr Pang acknowledged that the defendant faces up to seven years in prison – the maximum sentence for handling the finances of absconders. However, he argued that neither the sums involved nor the frequency of the transactions were significant.

He had pleaded not guilty and did not testify at the trial.

Mr Pang urged for a light sentence, saying that his client has no prior convictions and operates a water and electricity contracting business.

When he was arrested, Kwok said: "I know my daughter is wanted by the Security Bureau. I was the one paying for her insurance policy. Since she's no longer in HongKong, I just cut it."

After the ruling, Anna said: "Today, my father was convicted and remanded in custody simply for being my father. This is how the Hong Kong government retaliates against me and my community for our advocacy.”

She added that her father got the policy when she was "still learning to say 'papa,'" and that she had never been the first owner of the policy nor sought funds from her family or anyone else in Hong Kong.

"Weaponising my love for my family will not limit my love for Hong Kong," she said, vowing to continue her advocacy.

Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called it “an unlawful form of collective punishment” and demanded his immediate release.

“The conviction of Anna Kwok’s father is both cruel and unjust, and highlights the lengths the Chinese authorities will go to pressure activists abroad,” she said, adding that it was an affront to basic decency.

Amnesty International said this apparently “politically motivated conviction of an activist’s close relative also sets a dangerous precedent” in the former British colony.

“This conviction is the first time a family member of a ‘wanted’ pro-democracy activist living abroad has been convicted under Hong Kong’s national security laws. It marks a disturbing escalation in the Hong Kong government’s repressive use of ‘Article 23’,” said Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas spokesperson Joey Siu

“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,” the statement added.

Her brother was arrested alongside their father but was later released on bail without charge.

Kwok had initially been denied bail but he was later granted bail by the High Court with conditions imposed including a travel ban and a ban on communication with his daughter.

A sentence will be handed down on 26 February.

Kwok faces a maximum prison sentence of seven years, but the sentencing is capped at two years at the magistrate court level.