Case and biography of Huang Jinc, former chairman of the Hong Kong Independence Party, sentenced to five years

（Rights Defense Network Information Center report）On July 14, 2026，this website learned of the case and biography of Huang Jinc, former chairman of the Hong Kong Independence Party, who was sentenced to five years in prison. The details are reported as follows：

Huang Jinc：Born in 1983，a dual national of the People’s Republic of China （Hong Kong）and Portugal，project engineer and music teacher at the Royal Academy of Music in the United Kingdom，chairman of the Hong Kong Independence Party （registered in England, United Kingdom, and dissolved），online administrator，Hong Kong localist，and political prisoner detained in China。

Raised in Hong Kong from childhood，he emigrated to the United Kingdom in his twenties，and obtained a bachelor’s degree in music from the Royal Academy of Music，later becoming a project engineer and music teacher at the institution；he subsequently emigrated again, to Portugal，and changed his name to Joseph John；in 2014，because a series of large-scale civil disobedience movements for “genuine universal suffrage” took place in Hong Kong，he began creating a Facebook page for the “Hong Kong Independence Party,” and on February 27, 2015, formally registered this political organization as a political party in England, United Kingdom，with the goal of establishing the party being “Hong Kong independence and a return to the Commonwealth”；he subsequently served as the administrator responsible for publishing information for the party on six online platforms，and, in order to recruit party members and promote the goal of establishing the party, published numerous influential posts；on November 2, 2018，the United Kingdom Electoral Commission （in fact, following negotiations with the Chinese Communist government）revoked the Hong Kong Independence Party’s status as a registered political party，but he nevertheless published 42 posts online in 2019，including content supporting “Hong Kong independence” and opposing the dictatorial rule of the Chinese Communist Party，and posted online petitions calling for foreign intervention （such as calling for “NATO to send troops to Hong Kong” and abolishing the Sino-British Joint Declaration），as well as crowdfunding to establish an independent Hong Kong army, among other things；

In October 2022，because his mother fell ill in Hong Kong，he secretly returned to Hong Kong to visit her，but after entering Hong Kong, he was arrested by National Security Department police at a hotel in Hung Hom in early November；he was initially accused of allegedly committing “conspiracy to commit one or more acts with seditious intent,” but this was later renamed an allegation of “conspiracy to incite others to commit secession”；it was also alleged that, because from July 1, 2020, to November 1, 2022, he had conspired with others in Hong Kong to “incite others to organize, plan, carry out, or participate in acts intended to split the country and undermine national unity,” he should therefore be arrested and prosecuted；on the 3rd of the same month, he was swiftly brought before the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts；by February 2024，after more than 16 months, his multiple requests for bail had all been rejected；originally, under Hong Kong’s “Crimes Ordinance,” his offense carried a maximum sentence of two years，but in March 2023, Hong Kong prosecutors forcibly upgraded his case to one applicable under Hong Kong’s first national security law，and on February 27, 2024, a Hong Kong court found him guilty under Article 21 of the Hong Kong National Security Law of “conspiracy to incite others to commit secession”；on April 11 of the same year，he was ultimately sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the Hong Kong District Court；he subsequently appealed the judgment, dissatisfied with the ruling；in September 2025，the Hong Kong High Court dismissed his appeal against the sentence and upheld the original judgment，his sentence runs until November 2027。The prison where he is currently serving his sentence is unknown。