Hong Kong Democracy Activist Remains Defiant After Father Jailed 8 Months

Anna Kwok, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist living in exile in the U.S., says she won't be intimidated after Hong Kong authorities sentenced her 69-year-old father to eight months in prison. Her father was jailed for trying to access money from an insurance policy he purchased for her as a child, marking the first family member targeted under Hong Kong's 2024 national security law.

A Hong Kong democracy advocate living in exile in the United States says she remains committed to her cause despite authorities in Hong Kong sentencing her elderly father to eight months behind bars.

Anna Kwok, who leads the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, told The Associated Press that the imprisonment of her 69-year-old father has strengthened her resolve rather than weakened it.

“I think obviously the (Hong Kong) government wants to use guilt, wants to use a lot of emotions to weight me down, but I’ve found my way to really find my calling in activism for Hong Kong,” Kwok stated during a Friday interview.

“So I’m not going to back down. I’m just going to be more strategic with more long-term thinking and be more dedicated to the Hong Kong cause,” she added.

The court decision came Thursday when Hong Kong officials imprisoned Kwok Yin-sang for attempting to access approximately $11,000 from an insurance policy he had purchased for his daughter when she was very young. Kwok gained authority over the policy at age 18, but when her father tried to cancel it and collect the funds in 2025, he was detained and charged with handling money belonging to someone classified as an “absconder.”

This represents the first instance where family members of wanted pro-democracy figures have been prosecuted under Hong Kong’s 2024 national security legislation.

The executive director described the punishment as “ridiculous” while acknowledging the personal toll her political work has taken on her loved ones.

“I did go through this journey of finding out what activism means to me, now with this added layer of … very real personal cost that is not faced by me but faced by my family,” she explained.

U.S. officials condemned her father’s treatment, with Riley Barnes, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, demanding Kwok Yin-sang’s immediate freedom. “The targeting of individuals who advocate for basic freedoms in Hong Kong and their families is unacceptable,” Barnes posted on social media Thursday.

Kwok is one of 34 individuals targeted by Hong Kong police bounties, part of widespread efforts to silence opposition following the massive anti-government demonstrations in 2019. Authorities have placed a 1 million Hong Kong dollar reward (approximately $127,900) for information leading to her capture, while also prohibiting anyone from managing her financial assets.

Officials accuse her of seeking foreign sanctions and conducting other hostile actions against China and Hong Kong through her meetings with international political leaders and government representatives.

The activist revealed she can no longer maintain contact with family and friends in Hong Kong. She chose to conduct a televised interview after her father’s conviction to “show my family and people who care about me that I cannot really communicate with that I’m doing okay, please don’t worry too much about me.”

Kwok emphasized she refuses to allow Hong Kong’s government to succeed in making her feel responsible for endangering her family.

“I have to constantly remind myself that it’s not my fault, but the regime’s fault and the regime’s purpose, to do something like this,” Kwok concluded.