Hong Kong Watch Raises Concern Regarding the Deportation of Zeng Yuxuan

Today, the Hong Kong government announced the release from imprisonment and deportation of Zeng Yuxuan. 

This was conducted in accordance with section 19(1)(a) of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) which states that a “removal order may be made against a person requiring him to leave Hong Kong [...] by the Governor if it appears to him that that person is an undesirable immigrant who has not been ordinarily resident in Hong Kong for 3 years or more.”

Although this seems like a routine deportation, it is not in the case of Zeng, due to the political nature of her crimes. Her deportation marks a new low in Hong Kong, reflecting Beijing’s increasing control over Hong Kong and the decreasing independence of the judiciary, because the authorities are complying with Beijing to enforce their political agenda, with little regard for the rule of law.
Zeng, a 23-year old law student from Mainland China, was first detained in June 2023 for mourning a man who died after stabbing a policeman on 1 July 2021. She was brought to the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts and faced one count of acting with seditious intent. 

According to the charge sheet, Zeng allegedly displayed a drawing of the man, along with statements that were intended to encourage hatred or contempt, which could increase dissatisfaction against the Hong Kong government. She was also accused of intending to incite others to violence or counsel disobedience to law or any lawful order. 

Although Hong Kong Watch strongly condemns acts of violence, it is clear that Zeng’s sedition charges were politically motivated, reflecting a breakdown of the rule of law and judicial independence in Hong Kong. 

In September 2023, Zeng was sentenced to six months in jail after she pleaded guilty to attempting to do an act with a seditious intention. She had planned to display a banner of the Pillar of Shame, on 4 June 2023, which was the anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. 

She had received the banner from the exiled Tiananmen activist Zhou Fengsuo, who sent this as part of a global banner campaign organised by danish artist Jens Galschiøt, whose eight-metre sculpture the Pillar of Shame was quietly removed by the University of Hong Kong citing safety concerns in December 2021, after being on campus for 24 years. 

We are extremely concerned about what may happen to Zeng after her arrival in Mainland China, where the authorities do not uphold rule of law, where there is the widespread and systematic use of torture, and where many political activists have disappeared.

Anouk Wear, Research and Policy Advisor at Hong Kong Watch, commented that: 

“The deportation of Zeng Yuxuan marks a new low for human rights and freedom in Hong Kong, which was once a safe harbour for Chinese dissidents and activists. 

Instead, the Hong Kong authorities can now use the sedition law to criminalise peaceful political activities, violating freedom of expression, if the message does not comply with Beijing’s narrative. Hong Kong’s political and legal environment is edging closer to the situation across the border. 

Furthermore, it reflects that Hong Kong does not have a high degree of autonomy, nor judicial independence, violating the promises Beijing made under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.”