Father of a US-based activist is sentenced to eight months under national security law 

Anna Kwok, second right, speaks to Sen. Jeff Merkley at an event outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., 2024 [AP Photo]

A  Hong Kong court sentenced the father of a U.S.-based activist to eight months in prison late last week for attempting to withdraw some funds from his daughter’s insurance policy, in the first case against a family member of a pro-democracy advocate wanted by the city’s authorities brought under a national security law.

Kwok Yin-sang, 69, was found guilty earlier this month of attempting to deal with financial assets belonging to an “absconder” under the 2024 security law, locally known as Article 23 legislation. His daughter Anna Kwok, who is the executive director of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, slammed his conviction as “transnational repression.”

Authorities have offered 1 million Hong Kong dollars (about $127,900) for information leading to the younger Kwok’s arrest and later banned anyone from handling any funds for her. She is among 34 people targeted by police bounties.

They accuse her of demanding foreign sanctions, blockade and engaging in other hostile activities against China and Hong Kong during meetings with foreign politicians and government officials.

Anna Kwok said in an Instagram post that sentencing her father under the pretext that his actions lowered the likelihood of her return to stand trial is a judicial farce. She insisted she was not the owner of the insurance policy.

The older Kwok bought an insurance policy for his daughter when she was a toddler, and she gained control of it when she reached the age of 18. In 2025, the father sought to terminate the policy and withdraw funds amounting to roughly $11,000, the court heard. He was arrested the same year for allegedly attempting to deal with funds belonging to an “absconder.”

Acting principal magistrate Cheng Lim-chi handed down the sentence late last week. Kwok’s lawyer earlier argued for a 14-day prison term, saying that no evidence showed his client intended to send the money to his daughter.

Cheng said although Kwok’s actions did not directly endanger national security, his acts could make his daughter less likely to return to Hong Kong.

He said the case does not involve “collective punishment” and whether the defendant is a relative of an absconder is also irrelevant.

Kwok’s charge carried a maximum prison term of seven years, but his case was heard at the magistrates’ courts, which normally hand down sentences of no more than two years.

In the U.S., Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon and a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the sentencing against the father “cruel” and “the latest act of the Chinese government reaching across borders to silence dissent, wherever happens.”

Kwok was put through the trial “because his daughter Anna spoke out against Beijing’s abuse of the basic rights of Hong Kongers,” Merkley said in a statement.

Hong Kong police have issued bounties for other overseas-based Hong Kong activists, including pro-democracy former lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui. The U.S. and the U.K. governments have condemned the bounties.

In 2025, Washington sanctioned six Chinese and Hong Kong officials whom it said were involved in “transnational repression” and acts that threaten to further erode the city’s autonomy. Weeks later, Beijing said it would sanction U.S. officials, lawmakers and leaders of nongovernmental organizations who it said have “performed poorly” on Hong Kong issues.

Hong Kong and Chinese governments said that the 2024 law and a Beijing-imposed national security law enacted in 2020 were necessary for the city’s stability.  KANIS LEUNG, HONG KONG, MDT/AP