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A Hong Kong<\/a> court has found the father of a wanted activist guilty of a national security violation, after he tried to end her insurance policy and withdraw the funds, drawing international criticism for the targeting of relatives of pro-democracy campaigners.<\/p>\n Kwok Yin-sang, 68, is the first person to be charged under a homegrown national security law<\/a>, also known as Article 23, for \u201cattempting to deal with, directly or indirectly, any funds or other financial assets or economic resources\u201d belonging to an absconder.<\/p>\n His daughter, Anna Kwok, helps lead the Washington-based advocacy group Hong Kong Democracy Council, and is one of 34 overseas activists wanted by Hong Kong national security police<\/a>. She is accused of colluding with foreign forces<\/a> and police have offered a bounty of HK$1m ($127,400) for her arrest.<\/p>\n Kwok Yin-sang was accused of trying to withdraw funds totalling HK$88,609 ($11,342) from an education savings insurance policy which he bought for her when she was almost two years old. He had pleaded not guilty and did not testify at the trial.<\/p>\n The acting principal magistrate Cheng Lim-chi said since Anna Kwok is a fugitive, directly or indirectly handling her insurance policy is illegal.<\/p>\n A sentence is yet to be pronounced.<\/p>\n According to the prosecution, when Kwok was arrested, he said under police caution: \u201cI know my daughter is wanted by the security bureau. I was the one paying for her insurance policy. Since she\u2019s no longer in Hong Kong, I just cut it.\u201d<\/p>\n Kwok Yin-sang had initially been denied bail but he was later granted bail by the high court with conditions imposed including a travel ban and a ban on communication with his daughter.<\/p>\n During the closing submission, defence lawyer Steven Kwan argued that section 89 and 90 of Article 23 should not apply in a case where a person was simply handling an insurance policy he had bought a long time ago for his children.<\/p>\n \u201cThis \u2026 is a form of prosecution based on family ties,\u201d Kwan said.<\/p>\n Anna Kwok\u2019s brother was also arrested for the same crime and is now on bail.<\/p>\n China imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 and the city\u2019s legislature passed a second set of national security laws known as Article 23 in 2024, to plug what authorities called \u201cloopholes\u201d in the national security regime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n