Tony Chung Gets 43 Months Behind Bars – The Good, the Bad, and the Payday
- What happened? A 20‑year‑old named Tony Chung, once a lead at the Studentlocalism independence group, got slapped with 43 months in prison after a court finds him guilty of secession (“trying to split Hong Kong from China”) and money laundering.
- The law that sealed his fate – The sweeping new national security bill that justifies jailtime up to a life sentence for anything deemed subversive.
- Why 43 months? 40 of those are for secession, plus 18 for laundering. But only 3 months from the latter run separately – you get the math, no need for a calculator.
From Coffee Shop to Cautionary Tale
Back in October 2020, Tony was nabbed in a coffee shop near the U.S. Consulate (yes, that’s the place where the Starbucks “freedom” vibe is on the low side). Guess who was with him? Two other unknown men. The media speculated he might have been cooking up an asylum application; turned out he was just waiting for court in the smog‑filled city. The bail? Ridiculously denied.
The Plea Bargain – A Small Price for a Big Deal
He went down the “admit guilt” route for the secession charge and one laundering count. He kept a “no, not for the sedition and the other laundering” line. Result? A 25 % cut in the sentence, but still a 43‑month block – basically a Vatican weekly.
Judge Stanley Chan’s Verdict
“He actively organised, planned and implemented activities to separate the country,” the court judge said. Sounded a bit like a high‑school drama, but it’s legal. He also threw in the word “radical” and “dangerous” under the law.
Prosecutor Highlights: Money & Facebook
- Ivan Cheung, the prosecutor: “Tony was an admin for Studentlocalism’s U.S. Facebook pages and the Initiative Independence Party.”
- He had a stack of pro‑independence T‑shirts, flags, and books under his bed, which the police seized.
- The money laundering? PayPal donations that wanted to go from “liberty pledges” to “cookie‑cash.”
When Hong Kong Gets A Bit Too Patriotic
Studentlocalism broke up before the June 2020 security law arrived. That law hunts anything that looks like subversion, secession, terrorism or “colluding with foreign forces” – and the penalty? Life, if you really go against Beijing.
Most Hong Kongers are not partying for independence. The question of “maybe we don’t want mainland China” is the real “off‑limits” word in Beijing’s lexicon.
Government vs. Opposition – The Dance of Democracy
- Since the law, the political playground has turned into an authoritarian theme park. Many democracy figures are either behind bars or in temporary exile.
- Civil organizations are folding faster than a pizza sheet. Even rights groups from the West have decided to pack their bags.
- Beijing claims the law is needed to shake off the “mass street protests” chaos from 2019. They say it’s all about “restoring stability.”
- Critics: If the original promise was “high autonomy,” this feels like a broken treaty. Beijing fans say, “Whatever. We’re guessing this is the line of play.”
One More Quality Tag
With the security law in place, Hong Kong is no longer the thrive‑and‑climb zone of democracy enthusiasts. Instead, it’s a place of dwindling freedoms, where the ‘power of the people’ soundtrack has to be muted down to an eerie quiet.
