Hong Kong 47 Case Defendant Cheng Tat-hung, Sentenced to 6 Years and 6 Months, Spends His 38th Birthday in Prison

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On October 20, 2026, this website learned that today, Cheng Tat-hung, sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in the Hong Kong 47 case, spent his 38th birthday in prison. Cheng Tat-hung was arrested in 2021 for participating in the 2020 pro-democracy primary and was sentenced in November 2024 to 6 years and 6 months for “conspiracy to subvert state power.” He is one of 11 defendants applying for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal has scheduled the leave hearing for December 10, 2026.

Cheng Tat-hung: Born on October 20, 1988, his English name is Tat Cheng Tat-hung. He was formerly a British Hong Kong national and is now a citizen of the People’s Republic of China (Hong Kong). He is a resident of Fortress Hill on Hong Kong Island, a former member of the now-dissolved North Point Alliance, former chair of the Civic Party’s Young Civics, deputy secretary-general and Executive Committee member of the Civic Party, former councillor for the Tanner constituency in Hong Kong’s Eastern District, a “China-opposing and Hong Kong-disrupting element” in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party, a pan-democrat, and a political prisoner held in China.

He grew up in North Point in Hong Kong Island’s Eastern District from the age of 12 and attended Cheung Chuk Shan College, St. Stephen’s College and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree (honours) in social policy and administration. While at university, his enthusiasm for social affairs led him to become an intern with the Civic Party’s Kowloon West branch in 2011. After graduating the following year, he formally joined the Civic Party and began providing community services in North Point.

In early 2013, he began working in the Tanner area of North Point, Hong Kong. He has followed plans for the North Point waterfront, opposed the property hegemony and collusion between business and government, focused on brownfield development, advocated land policies such as ending the Small House Policy, monitored the preservation project for the State Theatre, and has repeatedly taken part in public education and speaking events at City Forum.

From October 31, 2014, to October 7, 2016, he served as the former chair of the Civic Party’s Young Civics and also served as vice-chair of the Hong Kong Island branch during this period.

In 2015, he was elected by a majority vote as councillor for the Tanner constituency in North Point, Hong Kong’s Eastern District, in the District Council election, becoming the first pan-democratic district councillor.

From 2016 to 2018, he was again elected deputy secretary-general of the Civic Party and earned a Juris Doctor from City University of Hong Kong. In 2019, he ran again in the District Council election and, together with party colleague Lee Yue-shun and several political newcomers (that is, people with no political experience who entered the political arena), formed the “North Point Alliance” to contest seven constituencies in North Point and Fortress Hill. For the 2020 Legislative Council election, because incumbent lawmaker Tanya Chan was unable to seek re-election after being jailed in the Occupy Central case, he represented the Civic Party in taking Chan’s place to contest the Hong Kong Island seat. On July 22 that year, he won the pan-democratic camp’s primary with the fourth-highest vote total in Hong Kong Island. But just eight days later, he was questioned over his political positions and stances on several issues, including his signing of a statement opposing the Hong Kong national security law, seeking foreign sanctions, and vetoing the government budget. The returning officer consequently ruled his nomination invalid. On December 15 that year, he announced on social media that he was leaving the Civic Party.

On January 6, 2021, he was arrested by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force during the mass arrests in the Hong Kong pro-democracy primary case. Although he was released on bail on March 13 that year, on May 21 that year he and 11 other pro-democracy district councillors were reported to have resigned, after which he was remanded in custody pending trial.

On May 30, 2024, three national security law designated judges of the High Court of Hong Kong found him and the other defendants in the 47-person case guilty of “conspiracy to subvert state power.”

On November 19, 2024, the defendants in the “47-person primary subversion case” were sentenced together at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. Because he was deemed a “China-opposing and Hong Kong-disrupting element” and had “pleaded not guilty,” he was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison (78 months), with his sentence due to end in 2030. It was learned on December 13, 2024, that he had appealed the verdict.