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A 41-year-old Portuguese teacher pleaded guilty to inciting secession for claiming to be the chairman of London-based Hong Kong Independence Party and publishing posts that called on repealing the Sino-British Joint Declaration as well as raising funds to build an army for their cause.
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The defendant John Joseph, also known as Wong Kin-chung, pleaded guilty to the charge as he appeared before judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung at the District Court on Tuesday.
Wong will remain in custody until his sentence is handed down on April 11.
The court earlier heard that a total of 42 posts were published in the capacity of HKIP across six social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter (now X) between July 2020 and November 2022.
The party’s manifesto includes five major goals, including repealing the joint declaration and the US – Hong Kong Policy Act; asking the UK and the US to resume the Treaty of Nanking and send troops to the SAR; and fight for Hong Kong to rejoin the commonwealth.
Passing down the verdict, Lin blasted Wong for “starting a fire in Hong Kong” while he was staying in the UK.
The judge also said: “My understanding is that he pushed all his responsibilities away,” referring to a police recorded meeting where Wong said he had received instructions from a mystery man and claimed he was not involved in publishing the inciting posts.
In the meeting, Wong said the party was founded about eight to nine years ago and he helped register the HKIP as a political party and a limited company in the UK but didn’t sign any documents. Wong added that the party’s affairs were managed by a netizen named Louis whom he had only met once.
Lin questioned that Wong didn’t really turn himself in, saying that Wong was arrested when he returned to Hong Kong to visit his family. Lin also noted that the chairman of the party's contact was found in Wong’s phone.
The defense said Wong was extremely foolish but pointed out that Wong proactively provided the police with the passcode to his phone so that the police could find sufficient evidence to prove Wong as the manager of the party’s social media platforms.
Wong finished a music degree in the UK and worked as a project engineer. He had previously taught music in Hong Kong and was most recently a teacher for the Royal Academy of Music.
