Hong Kong’s security law threatens to jail activist for ‘seditious’ T-shirt

A Hong Kong man faces a potential sentence of up to 10 years in jail after he pleaded guilty to sedition for wearing a T-shirt featuring a protest slogan.

In court on Monday, Chu Kai-pong, 27, was the first person to be convicted under Hong Kong’s tough new national security law enacted in March.

Chu pleaded guilty to one count of “doing acts with seditious intent”. His sentencing is set for Thursday.

He was arrested on June 12 at a train station wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”, and a yellow mask printed with “FDNOL” – the shorthand of another pro-democracy slogan, “five demands, not one less”. June 12 is a date associated with protests in the city in 2019.

The new security law expanded the maximum sentence for sedition from two years in prison to seven years. The sentence could rise to 10 years if the defendant is found to be in “collusion with foreign forces”.

Chu’s lawyer argued that the maximum he could be given would be two years.