Hong Kong journalist arrested in sedition probe over station gathering

• Local media identified Tang, 37, as one of two people arrested on 30 September under Hong Kong’s 2024 security law.
• Police say the investigation concerns people who held flowers and shouted slogans outside Prince Edward station on 31 August.
• Six people arrested earlier in the case have been released on bail; police say Tang and the other recent arrestee were being detained for further enquiries.
• Police have not publicly specified Tang’s alleged conduct or announced a formal charge against him.

Hong Kong police arrested Tang Ho-wing, founder of the online outlet Boom News, in a sedition investigation linked by local reporting to a public gathering outside Prince Edward station. The police announcement confirmed two arrests but did not name either person. The South China Morning Post and other local outlets identified Tang; the paper, citing a source familiar with the matter, reported that he was arrested at about 7am on 30 September alongside activist Lee Ying-chi. ¹²

Police said people at the station on 31 August held bouquets and shouted what officers described as seditious slogans. They alleged that some spread false information intended to stir hatred against the government and law-enforcement agencies. But the police statement did not say what Tang or Lee personally did, and the arrest was on suspicion of an offence under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance—not an announced formal charge. ¹³

The arrests followed six others in the same investigation: three on 3 September and three on 27 and 28 September, according to the government. All six were released on bail. Police said Tang and the woman arrested with him were being held for further enquiries and that the operation was continuing. The government said the suspected offence carries a maximum first-conviction penalty of seven years in prison. ¹

The gathering took place on the seventh anniversary of the 2019 police-protester clashes at Prince Edward station, an episode whose public interpretation remains contested. Boom News covered the 31 August gathering. The Associated Press reported that a video the outlet posted included a woman saying it was unknown whether anyone had died in the 2019 incident and reporting that police had taken away at least two people. Police have called claims about the incident baseless; that is the authorities’ position, not an independent finding about what happened. ³

The case puts the limits of on-the-ground reporting at issue: press-freedom groups link Tang’s arrest to Boom News’ coverage, while police have not explained whether it was his reporting, the broadcast’s contents or other conduct that led to his arrest. The Hong Kong Journalists Association called it the first publicly known arrest of a journalist for alleged sedition under the 2024 law. That broad description needs care: the Committee to Protect Journalists says Tang’s case was the fourth sedition case involving a journalist in just over three months, including earlier cases involving journalists who were also booksellers. ³⁴

Footnotes

1. Hong Kong government, “National security arrests made” ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. South China Morning Post, “Boom News founder Tang Ho-wing, 1 other arrested by Hong Kong national security police” ↩

3. Associated Press, “Hong Kong police arrest journalist from online news outlet over alleged sedition” ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Committee to Protect Journalists, “Hong Kong journalist Tang Ho-wing arrested in latest sedition case” ↩