Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Crackdown on “Hong Kong Parliament”: The Real Aftershocks Are Only Just Beginning

Blog

Crackdown on “Hong Kong Parliament”: The Real Aftershocks Are Only Just Beginning
Blog

Blog

Crackdown on “Hong Kong Parliament”: The Real Aftershocks Are Only Just Beginning

2025-07-27 14:50 Last Updated At:23:45

Hong Kong’s National Security Police have just delivered a powerful blow, launching a full-on crackdown targeting the masterminds and candidates behind the so-called “Hong Kong Parliament.” Nineteen individuals, including key figures like Elmer Yuen Gong-yi and Victor Ho Leung-mou, have been declared fugitives, accused of conspiring to subvert the HKSAR government. All have skipped town, but arrest warrants are in the air. But mind that it's not just these big players in the crosshairs. A senior political insider told me that the scope is vastly wider—over 15,000 people who cast votes as “electors” could be in legal jeopardy too. If the authorities can tie a ballot to your name, you may find police at your door. And that doesn’t just stop at voters—any locals who pitched in money or provided tech help might be next on the list.

Nineteen ringleaders and “candidates” from the so-called ‘Hong Kong Parliament’ are now wanted—and police are eyeing thousands more supporters and voters who threw in their lot.

Nineteen ringleaders and “candidates” from the so-called ‘Hong Kong Parliament’ are now wanted—and police are eyeing thousands more supporters and voters who threw in their lot.

What Was Behind the “Hong Kong Parliament” Push?

Now, the group headed by Yuen wasn’t exactly secretive. Despite plenty of missteps (and more than a few meme-worthy moments), their objective was crystal clear: set up a government-in-exile, and take down the HKSAR administration. They weren’t shy about it. Some “candidates” were even promising military training and open talk of buying weapons for armed revolt—hardly subtle stuff. No surprise, then, that the National Security Police have only just started a bigger clean-out, aiming to dismantle this entire operation.

Web of Connections: More Than Just Local Trouble

Several newly “elected” members of this Parliament, however, turn out to be cozied up to other anti-Establishment factions abroad. There’s a real pipeline of overseas support being funneled in. Take Keung Ka-wai, the “top vote-getter”—he’s teamed up with exiled protesters in Taiwan to launch their own “Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union.” They even had their own press conference propagating Hong Kong independence, which earned Keung a swift ejection from Taiwan as a security risk. Meanwhile, back in Hong Kong, police have nabbed several members of that organization —some shockingly young, just 15—showing just how far their ambitions run.

Elmer Yuen and Victor Ho once bragged voting was “absolutely confidential.” That guarantee didn’t last, leaving voters now “shaking with fear and losing sleep.”

Elmer Yuen and Victor Ho once bragged voting was “absolutely confidential.” That guarantee didn’t last, leaving voters now “shaking with fear and losing sleep.”

Anyone Who Participated Could Be at Risk

Let’s talk about the law. When I pressed a veteran source about whether all 15,702 “voters” also broke the law, the answer was an unambiguous yes. Simply participating in these ballots can be construed as subversion under the National Security Law—Articles 22 and 23 have that covered. So for anyone who voted, there’s genuine cause for worry. Originally, Yuen and Ho made grand promises that a million people, both locals and overseas Hongkongers, would join in. But many were already wary—it was clear from the start that voting carried serious risks, and most people didn’t buy assurances of confidentiality. Some 15,000 did go through with it, but stories of sloppy ballot handling quickly eroded trust, leaving many voters anxious about leaks. For those still in Hong Kong, this has turned into a real nightmare.

And it won’t end with voters: authorities are expected to hunt down any support staff—donors, techies, or PR boosters—relentlessly severing underground networks to prevent Hong Kong from being used as a remote-controlled base for disruption.

To sum up, police defines the “Hong Kong Parliament” as a subversive group. The warrants for the 19 fugitives are just the opening act, aimed not just at showing muscle, but at wiping out local support networks and sending a clear message to would-be backers and “voters” alike. If any of those 15,000 voters end up being prosecuted, it’s going to be a cautionary tale for anyone still thinking about flirting with such risky activism.

Lai Ting-yiu




What Say You?

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

Jimmy Lai is now convicted of colluding with foreign forces, and the court’s reasons for verdict run a staggering 855 pages — packed with testimony, evidence, and step-by-step findings. Beyond Lai’s list of “offences,” the judgment also traces his dense web of ties to political figures in Hong Kong and overseas.

What jumps out is how it revisits Anson Chan Fang On-sang and Martin Lee Chu-ming, detailing their contacts with US political heavyweights and “intermediaries,” and pointing to their significance in the overall picture. Read the courtroom testimony and track what they did before and after the 2019 unrest — especially those repeated US trips for “closed-door meetings” — and the old accounts still look jaw-dropping.

This anti-HK triad, even if the “two corners” pulled back in time and slipped away, one question still hangs: is there unfinished business left to follow up?

Coaching, then headlines

The judgment says Chan doesn’t just show up in Washington — she gets coached for the mission. Before travelling to the US in March 2019 to meet then Vice President Mike Pence, she is “coached” by former US Consul General in Hong Kong James Cunningham, who advises her to make thoroughly defeating the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance the core message.

Chan moves before the chaos: Pence, Miles Yu — and a foreign-collusion trail that starts earlier than Lai.

Chan moves before the chaos: Pence, Miles Yu — and a foreign-collusion trail that starts earlier than Lai.

Cunningham then relays this to Jimmy Lai, who forwards it on to Martin Lee, Democratic Party senior figure Albert Ho, Lee Cheuk-yan, Lee Wing-tat and others. After Chan meets Pence, Lai quickly instructs Cheung Kim-hung and others to “make the news as big as possible.”

Then comes the “international front” pitch — and it’s explicit. On March 26, 2019, the judgment says Lai messages Martin Lee saying he hopes Cunningham can help the democrats lobby overseas on the “international front.” Lai adds that Cunningham should stay in Washington to work, especially to push Congress to intervene over the anti-extradition campaign.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg — and the timeline matters. Based on what I’ve checked in public materials and courtroom testimony, Chan and Lee are meeting senior US officials even earlier than Lai, and their ties look deeper than this slice suggests.

Martin Lee opens doors for Lai: Pelosi and other US power players — a heavy hitter on the “international front.

Martin Lee opens doors for Lai: Pelosi and other US power players — a heavy hitter on the “international front.

Washington doors swing open

Mid-March 2019 is when the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance controversy heats up — and Chan is already on a US invite. She is invited by the White House National Security Council to visit the US, first holding a closed-door meeting with NSC officials to discuss the anti-extradition situation. Three days later, she meets Vice President Pence one-on-one, going deeper on how to “defeat” the bill.

The meetings don’t stop at Pence — they fan out across the US system. After that, Chan meets Democratic congressional leader Nancy Pelosi and State Department officials involved in drafting reports under the Hong Kong Policy Act. At that closed-door meeting, the judgment notes Pompeo’s senior adviser Miles Yu (Yu Maochun) is also present — later sanctioned by Beijing as a major traitor to China.

Two months later, it’s Martin Lee’s turn to carry the baton — and he runs straight to the same power center. He leads a pan-democrat delegation to Washington to attend a seminar hosted by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) — dubbed here the “second CIA” — and to appear at a hearing held by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) on Hong Kong issues.

The climax is a face-to-face with Pompeo — the “hawk among hawks.” Lee gets an audience with then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, described as Pompeo’s first meeting with Hong Kong opposition figures after taking office — a signal that the US already treats Lee as a useful chess piece.

Two months, two heavyweights

Here’s the uncomfortable contrast: Chan and Lee get into Washington’s inner rooms fast — and ahead of Lai. Within two months, they separately meet two US heavyweights and discuss next steps, about two months earlier than Jimmy Lai. Not long after, the anti-extradition riots erupt in full, making it hard to deny they play significant roles in that upheaval.

During the unrest, the links extend to key operatives on the ground. They maintain close ties with several major figures, including Andy Chan Tsz-wah and Tony Chung (Lee Yue-hin). In testimony, Lee Yue-hin discloses he meets Anson Chan three times, and in one meeting they even discuss a “grand plan” for anti-extradition actions — with Chan asking whether the movement has an “end game,” and if so, how to reach it, effectively demanding a “roadmap.”

And the networking goes beyond talk — it becomes introductions across foreign channels. Chan brings Lee Yue-hin to the British Consul General’s residence in Hong Kong and introduces him to Consul General Andrew Heyn, described as evidence she actively acts as a go-between linking key unrest operatives with the UK and US governments.

Martin Lee plays a similar connector role, too. In July 2019, he invites Andy Chan — leader of the “Glory to Hong Kong” team — to a dinner and introduces him to Jimmy Lai. After that, Andy Chan becomes a key operative for Lai’s “international front,” often using Martin Lee as the channel to stay in contact with Lai.

A WhatsApp “war room”

Then it gets even more operational — literally a chat-group command setup. Martin Lee, Jimmy Lai and James Cunningham set up a WhatsApp group that functions as an “operations command centre,” shaping strategy as circumstances shift — and underscoring, that Lee sits at the core of both the local and international fronts.

By June 2020, the mood tightens as Beijing moves to enact the Hong Kong National Security Law — and they sense the risk. At the last moment before the law takes effect, Chan and Lee “turn the wheel” and hurry to announce they are stepping back: Chan claims she will no longer touch politics, while Lee distances himself from “Hong Kong independence” and “radicalism,” and quits Lai’s group, temporarily avoiding the legal net.

Now they go quiet — and that silence becomes part of the story. After Lai’s conviction, the two “comrades-in-arms” say nothing and effectively vanish from view. But those shocking old accounts don’t simply disappear, and whether — and when — they might be “settled” remains unknown.

Recommended Articles