Hong Kong Watch Briefing on Human Rights Developments: May 2025

This briefing describes developments in Hong Kong in May 2025 focusing on the rapid deterioration of human rights in the city following the imposition of the National Security Law and the passage of Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

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Executive Summary

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

  • Hong Kong expands national security measures with new subsidiary legislation

  • Pro-democracy activists were released after over four years in prison

  • Independent media face tax audits amid press freedom concerns

  • Security police targets families of exiled activists

JUDICIARY WATCH: RECENT RULINGS AND LEGAL TRENDS

  • A man sentenced to one year for ‘seditious’ online posts

  • Activist Owen Chow lose appeals over prison letter convictions

  • Hong Kong independence activist appeals for reduced stance at top court 

  • Social worker Jackie Chen appeals rioting conviction and sentence

  • Former New Zealand supreme court judge Sir William Young set to join Hong Kong's top court amid foreign judges' exodus

STATE OF THE RULE OF LAW AND POLICING

  • US President Trump to address Jimmy Lai’s case in upcoming China trade talks

  • Hong Kong government rejects US Senator’s sanctions proposal on judges and prosecutors

  • Ex-district councillor Katrina Chan reports being ‘silenced’ following arrest under Article 23

TRANSFORMING CIVIL SOCIETY & EDUCATION

  • Lingnan University students’ union faces institutional pressure from the university

  • Independent publishers barred from Hong Kong book fair

  • Carnival to be hosted at formal Tiananmen vigil site for third straight year

  • Hong Kong’s Catholic Church remains silent on Tiananmen mass

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PRESS

  • Hong Kong falls to 140th in Press Freedom Index, while state media labels the ranking a ‘political smear’

  • Media outlet Channel C halts operations amid financial and legal challenges

  • Documentary on journalist Ronson Chan withdrawn from overseas screenings due to ‘pressure’

STATE SECURITY & ECONOMY

  • CK Hutchison affirms legal compliance in $22.8 billion global ports sale

  • SHEIN moving IPO to Hong Kong

  • Colombia joins China’s Belt and Road initiative, signalling strategic shift in foreign policy 

  • US sanctions Chinese, Hong Kong entities for supporting Iran’s missile program

  • China establishes international mediation body in Hong Kong 

Briefing, NewsRay WongHR