From Protester to Terrorist
After a grueling 159-day trial, the court handed down a guilty verdict on Thursday: Ho Cheuk-wai and two co-defendants convicted of “conspiracy to cause an explosion,” facing stiff sentences for crimes that went far beyond street clashes. Friends following these cases tell me there’s an eerie symmetry with last November’s Dragon Slayer Squad bombing conviction. Both gangs began as disillusioned protesters, then morphed into terror cells. Both recruited fellow radicals into specialist roles, obediently executing every order as if under a spell. And both engineered weapons designed to slaughter indiscriminately—truly monsters, no longer human.
In the Port Bombing Case, the three defendants were found guilty. Ho Cheuk-wai – from PolyU protester to bomb mastermind.
These stories underscore how violent demonstrations can spiral into full-blown terrorism. Had authorities not moved decisively to root out these bomb-making maniacs, the death toll could have been catastrophic.
Engineering Mass Destruction
Take Ho Cheuk-wai’s Port Bomb Gang. In court he admitted participating in the PolyU siege, even diving into drainage tunnels to rescue comrades—a clear sign of his deep-seated hatred for police and government. Under his direction, a flat in Tai Kok Tsui became a bomb factory. Police explosives experts found enough ammonium nitrate—57 kg alone—for high-yield charges and TATP, the infamous “Mother of Satan.” A single blast from these devices would have leveled buildings and killed scores within a 50-metre radius.
Meanwhile, the Dragon Slayer Squad plotted with equal cold-blooded precision. Named after their animus toward the Police Tactical Unit (“The Raptors”), members amassed large quantities of explosives, bought firearms, and even traveled to Taiwan for military training. They produced two bombs—a 2 kg device and an 8 kg behemoth with a 400-metre blast radius.
Both the Dragon Slayer Squad and the Port Bomb Gang planned their attacks meticulously aiming at massive damage on lives. According to Police’s explosive specialist Chief Superintendent Lo Bing-sin, Ho Cheuk Wai’s group planned a twin-strike at Lo Wu Station in February 2020, then an even bigger attack at Sheung Tak Shopping Centre on March 8. Only arrests averted a massacre.
While the Dragon Slayer Squad’s methodology was chillingly: vandalize shops on Hennessy Road to lure officers toward a smaller bomb, detonate it by mobile phone, then, from a nearby vantage point, shoot at first responders—herding them toward a larger device rigged to go off at the perfect moment.
Dragon-Slaying Squad’s explosives – an eerie mirror of the Port Bomb Gang’s mass-killing arsenal.
When Protest Turns to Terror
Friends who’ve studied both cases say it all stemmed from “toxic radicalism”, a toxic cycle that turned ordinary protesters into inhuman perpetrators. It’s not new: Japan’s Red Army, Germany’s Red Army Faction, America’s Weather Underground—all once-idealistic radicals who descended into terror and self-destruction.
The lesson is stark: terrorism must be stamped out at its inception. Hong Kong is fortunate its police neutralized these bomb-obsessed extremists before they could unleash havoc.
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. **
Long after the Black Riots ended, key pan-democrats who stuck around Hong Kong played it safe—low profile, out of headlines. But these same figures kept cozy ties with foreign consular powerbrokers, facts anyone can see from repeated public invitations. On this occasion, Anson Chan, Emily Lau, Alan Leong, and Kenneth Leung showed up as VIPs at the British Consulate. The warmth? It’s no mystery, if you know their backstory.
Reunion at the Consulate: Anson Chan, Emily Lau, Alan Leong, and Kenneth Leung pose at the British King’s birthday luncheon
Raising Questions, Finding Evidence
A friend dropped a telling remark after seeing the photo: British decision-makers groomed Anson Chan for power even before the Handover, and those links never really faded. The relationship is unusually tight—two behind-the-scenes stories make that fact plain. Must be why the British still roll out the red carpet for Chan.
After quitting the government in 2001, Chan inched closer to the opposition and even won a Legislative Council seat. For years, US and UK consuls wined and dined her—plenty of evidence in social media posts and diplomatic cables—to allegedly “discuss strategies” for Hong Kong. It’s not gossip; it’s documented pattern.
When the 2019 unrest exploded, Anson Chan took sides on the so-called “international front.” Prosecutors stated in open court that, behind the scenes, Jimmy Lai directed “Stand With Hong Kong” (SWHK)—led by Andy Chan, Andy Li, and Finn Lau—to carry out international lobbying and publicity campaigns, spending large sums of money.
Court documents further show that Anson Chan wasn’t a bystander: back in 2019, she brought Andy Li to a luncheon with then British Consul Andrew Heyn. Martin Lee, Dennis Kwok, and Charles Mok were also there. The prosecution records are clear—Chan leveraged her foreign contacts to make connections for SWHK, all with Jimmy Lai’s shadow looming in the background.
2019, Behind Closed Doors: Anson Chan sits down with Consul Andrew Heyn
Not Just a “Chat Over Tea”
There’s more. During anti-extradition protests, surveillance and eyewitnesses caught Anson Chan on August 13, 2019, holding secret discussions at a hotel with Andrew Heyn and his aide—documents in hand. That was no idle chat. The British Consulate’s involvement raises eyebrows, especially as staff like Simon Cheng were repeatedly spotted at protest sites. Cheng ran off to the UK, claimed political asylum, and neatly sidestepped questions about his activities.
With the national security law approaching, Chan made a quick exit from politics—claiming “retirement.” She kept out of jail, but her dealings with foreign diplomats never stopped. When the new US Consul General Julie Eadeh met her right on arrival, Beijing protested—an incident widely reported by state outlets and foreign press alike. Now, Chan’s red carpet invite to the British King’s birthday party again stirs scrutiny.
The rest of the guest list tells its own story. Emily Lau, Alan Leong, and Kenneth Leung all made appearances. Notably missing: Martin Lee, once the darling of the British. No explanation given—just another twist in an old game. For the establishment camp, only Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk attended, showing that official ties with the British remain careful and distant.
Looking at these staged reunion snapshots, my friend shakes his head—those glory days are long past. Wise up, he says: the era is over, and flirting with foreign consulates only ended up undermining Hong Kong’s stability. It’s time for these figures to accept reality and leave wishful thinking in the past.
