Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam (Chinese: 何桂藍; born 24 August 1990) is a Hong Kong activist and former reporter of the now defunct news outlet Stand News, who rose to prominence for her frontline reporting in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.[1][2] In June 2020, she announced her candidature in the 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries, in which she obtained a nomination ticket in the general election that was later postponed. For her participation, she was arrested in January 2021 along with over 50 other pro-democrats on national security charges and was remanded in custody. In December 2021, she received a sentence of six months in relation to her role in a banned protest during the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in June 2020.
Gwyneth Ho | |||||||||||
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.png) Ho in the 2020 pro-democracy primaries | |||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||
| Born | 24 August 1990 | ||||||||||
| Political party | Independent | ||||||||||
| Residence | Hong Kong | ||||||||||
| Occupation | Former journalist | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 何桂藍 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 何桂蓝 | ||||||||||
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Education
editHo was educated at Ho Fung College and Tsinghua University.[1] Ho studied at the University of Amsterdam, where she obtained a master's degree in Journalism through the Erasmus Mundus programme.[3][4]
Journalism career
edit
Ho joined Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) as an intern reporter in 2011.[8] She later worked for various media outlets, including BBC Chinese and The Reporter.[9][10] She was also employed as a reporter for House News, the predecessor of Stand News.[11]
Ho gained recognition as a frontline reporter for Stand News in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, acquiring the nickname "Sister Stand News" (立場姐姐).[12][13] On 1 July 2019, Ho was one of the reporters present inside the Legislative Council Complex, where she reported on the storming of the Legislative Council. She interviewed a young pro-democracy activist who expressed solidarity with other Hong Kong protesters, which garnered Ho a lot of attention for her reporting.[14]
On 21 July, Ho reported on the 2019 Yuen Long attack, where swarms of suspected triad gangsters assaulted pro-democracy protesters at the Yuen Long MTR station.[15][16] She had been live streaming the attack, which showed one of the violent assailants striking protesters over the barrier of a train's passenger gantry.[17] The assailant suddenly ran towards Ho and started hitting her.[6][18] Ho continued filming even after she was struck and knocked to the ground, capturing footage of paramedics attending to the injured.[19] She was hospitalized after the attack, suffering from minor head, hand, and shoulder injuries.[20][21] Ho's video footage went viral internationally, shocking the audience about the horrors of the night.[22]
Legislative Council bid, arrest, and sentencing for 2020 vigil
editOn 18 June 2020, Ho announced her intention to run in the (subsequently postponed) 2020 Hong Kong legislative election after quitting her journalism career.[13] Her decision to quit journalism was partly motivated by the Yuen Long incident from 21 July 2019 in which she had been injured.[23] In July 2020, Ho participated in the pro-democracy primaries within the New Territories East constituency. With 26,802 votes, Ho had the highest number of votes among the candidates, securing a nomination ticket in the general election.[16] On 30 July 2020, it was announced that Ho had been disqualified, along with several other pro-democracy candidates, from running.[24]
On 6 January 2021, Ho was among 53 members of the pro-democratic camp who were arrested under the national security law, specifically its provision regarding alleged subversion. The group stood accused of the organisation of and participation in the primary elections held by the camp in July 2020.[25] Ho was released on bail on 7 January,[26] but was charged under the national security law in late February with bail denied by court since then. Friends of Ho have posted on her social media pages several long letters from jail in which she interweaves her political stance, pop culture and the future of the pro-democracy movement.[27]
On 9 December 2021, a Hong Kong court found Ho guilty of inciting and taking part in an unlawful assembly on occasion of the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre on 4 June 2020. More than a dozen politicians and activists had been charged over the assembly. Along with Chow Hang-tung and Jimmy Lai, Ho had contested her charges.[28] During the trial, Ho said while she had been in Victoria Park on the evening of the candlelight vigil, she had not been taking part in it, but instead intending to show resistance to the regime; and that her holding flowers and a candle was to test the difference between Hong Kong and mainland China.[29] District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock dismissed the arguments by Ho as "frankly non-sensical", as with the arguments of Chow and Lai.[28] On 13 December, Ho was sentenced to six months in prison on the charges.[30]
On 30 May 2024, Ho was found guilty of subversion in the primary elections case, along with 13 other defendants.[31] She received a sentence of seven years in November 2024.[32]
References
edit- ^ a b "眾新聞 | 【立會選戰】「立場姐姐」何桂藍：從政為了「行前啲、做到盡」 一旦落選不會做回記者". 眾新聞 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-07-12. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ Pierson, David; Tang, Wai Yin (2020-05-30). "Deleting Facebook, downloading VPNs: How Hong Kongers are preparing for a draconian law". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "我等香港人：海外研究生就法院有關雨傘佔領者判決之聲明 | 獨媒轉載". 香港獨立媒體網. Archived from the original on 2019-08-25. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
- ^ "Bluebook 2018-2020" (PDF). Mundus Journalism. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "證據確鑿 – 小牛農場負責人陳志祥襲擊立場記者". Facebook. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ a b "證據確鑿 - 小牛農場負責人陳志祥襲擊立場記者". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2019-08-17. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
- ^ "元朗恐襲兩個月 市民形點商場內靜坐 | 獨媒報導". 香港獨立媒體網. 21 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ "港台電視 31 鏗鏘說 - 直播的真相". www.rthk.hk (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 2019-09-14. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
- ^ Ho, Gwyneth (2017-09-05). "Australia universities caught in China row". Archived from the original on 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
- ^ "何桂藍 - 報導者 The Reporter". www.twreporter.org (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "【立會選戰】何桂藍專訪 — 除下記者證後，還有人與她同行嗎？ | 立場人語 | 立場新聞". 立場新聞 Stand News. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "The Face of Protest in Hong Kong". Popula. 6 July 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ a b "立法會選舉後浪湧現：「立場姐姐」劉穎匡張崑陽初試牛刀". Radio Free Asia (in Cantonese). Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "【佔領立法會】堅持「一齊走」 數十示威者冒清場死線 重返會議廳勸離留守者 | 立場報道 | 立場新聞". 立場新聞 Stand News. Archived from the original on 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
- ^ "Hong Kong police criticised over mob violence". BBC News. 2019-07-23. Archived from the original on 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ a b "Hong Kong democrat primaries in full: Young 'localist resistance camp' come out on top". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2020-07-16. Archived from the original on 2022-01-04. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "Hong Kong journalist live streams being attacked at train station". CNA. Archived from the original on 2019-07-27. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "Attacks on the media in Hong Kong threaten democracy". thestar.com. 2019-07-29. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
- ^ "Horrifying moments as Hong Kong journalist live-streams being attacked". Reuters. 22 July 2019. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ Ramzy, Austin (2019-07-22). "Mob Attack at Hong Kong Train Station Heightens Seething Tensions in City". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ Fung, Alice; Wang, Yanan (2019-07-20). "Clashes involving Hong Kong's protest movement grow violent". CTVNews. Archived from the original on 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "Horrifying Footage Shows Masked Thugs Beating Pro-Democracy Protesters With Metal Rods In Hong Kong". www.vice.com. 22 July 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ Mahtani, Shibani; Ho Kilpatrick, Ryan (27 August 2020). "Hong Kong police resort to falsehoods in new propaganda drive". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ "Twelve pro-democracy figures barred from Legco poll". RTHK. 30 July 2020. Archived from the original on 30 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ "National security law: Hong Kong rounds up 53 pro-democracy activists". BBC News. 2021-01-06. Archived from the original on 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ Chau, Candice (2021-01-08). "'Hong Kong has entered a bitter winter,' says primaries organiser as 52 democrats in mass arrest bailed out". Hong Kong Free Press. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ^ Mahtani, Shibani; Yu, Theodora (2021-06-30). "Letters from Hong Kong's jails". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ a b "Hong Kong: Jimmy Lai convicted for taking part in Tiananmen vigil". BBC News. 2021-12-09. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
- ^ Chau, Candice (2021-11-10). "Hong Kong activist denies partaking in Tiananmen Massacre vigil, says she attended park to protest police ban". Hong Kong Free Press. Archived from the original on 2022-01-04. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
- ^ Pang, Jessie; Ng, Edmond (2021-12-13). "Hong Kong activists get up to 14 months in prison for banned Tiananmen vigil". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ Pang, Jessie; Pomfret, James (2024-05-30). "'Hong Kong 47' trial: 14 democrats found guilty in landmark subversion case". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ Lau, Chris; Gan, Nectar (2024-11-19). "Joshua Wong shouts 'I love Hong Kong' as more than 40 leading democracy leaders handed lengthy prison terms in mass trial". CNN.