• Kwok Yin-sang convicted for attempting to cash out daughter's insurance policy.
• This marks the first conviction under the national security law related to financial asset handling.
• Authorities had issued a HK$1 million bounty on Anna Kwok in 2023.
• The court found Kwok aware of his daughter's status as an absconder.
• Sentencing set for February 26 with a maximum penalty of two years.

The father of Hong Kong-based activist Anna Kwok, Kwok Yin-sang, was found guilty under the city's national security law for attempting to access his daughter's financial assets. This conviction marks the first time an individual has been charged with this specific offense, demonstrating the government's intention to enforce strict regulations against financial dealings involving absconders, as delineated in the legislation enacted in 2024. Kwok, aged 69, was accused of attempting to withdraw funds from an insurance policy he purchased for his daughter when she was an infant, despite knowing her status as a fugitive, according to South China Morning Post and Channel News Asia.

During the court proceedings, Acting Principal Magistrate Cheng Lim-chi concluded that Kwok must have known that any attempt to handle the policy violated the law prohibiting dealings with the financial assets of absconders. Anna Kwok, who is the executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council based in the United States, previously faced a HK$1 million bounty placed on her due to allegations of colluding with foreign entities and instigating sanctions against Hong Kong, reports NPR and Channel News Asia.

The case centered around the legality of Kwok's actions in trying to cash out approximately HK$88,000 from the policy, which he purchased when Anna was just 22 months old. His defense argued that he lacked criminal intent, asserting there was no evidence he planned to send the funds to his daughter, while the prosecution emphasized that his actions undermined local authority efforts to compel her return to Hong Kong. The maximum sentence for this offense is seven years, but since it was tried in a magistrate's court, the cap is set at two years, according to South China Morning Post, NPR, and Channel News Asia.

Following the verdict, Anna Kwok publicly condemned the ruling, claiming it was a retaliatory act against her political activism, and described her father's conviction as a form of "hostage taking." The international community, including organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, characterized the case as politically motivated and indicative of a broader campaign of repression against dissenters in Hong Kong, as noted by Channel News Asia and NPR.