In Hong Kong’s first “subversion of State power” case, or the “35-plus” subversion plot case, 31 of the 47 defendants pleaded guilty, while 14 were convicted and two acquitted.

Sentences were handed down by the trial judge on 45 defendants on Tuesday, with the leader of the plot, Benny Tai Yiu-ting, receiving 10 years’ imprisonment and the rest receiving sentences ranging from four years and two months to seven years.

The penalties, considered to be heavy by some, conveyed the message that the law has zero tolerance for acts endangering national security and public interests, and manifested the spirit of the rule of law.

Pursuant to Article 22 of the National Security Law for Hong Kong (NSL), a person who commits the crime of “subversion of State power”, shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or not less than 10 years if he or she is the chief offender or commits a major crime, a person who actively participates in the crime shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years, and a person who participates in the crime shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years, or to detention or control.

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The nature of the crime of “conspiracy to subvert State power” committed by Tai and the other defendants is serious and extremely harmful, and they must be severely punished in accordance with the law. The large amount of facts, evidence and judgments revealed in the course of the trial fully illustrate that the planning and implementation of the “primary election” by the defendants was, in essence, an organized, premeditated, well-planned plan to seize the governance power of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and was a very serious criminal act endangering national security.

The whole plan was to get control of the Legislative Council through maneuvers under the “35-plus” plot. They would then indiscriminately veto government budgets or public expenditure proposals to compel the chief executive to resign and stop the government from functioning, with the aim of forcing it to respond to their so-called “five demands”. They planned to instigate social unrest should the government reject their demands, creating excuses for foreign countries to sanction China and the HKSAR at the expense of the people’s well-being.

With the evidence presented during the court trial solid, and the criminality of defendants’ actions proved beyond doubt, they deserved to be punished.

Nevertheless, the United States and some of its allies have relentlessly exerted unjustified pressure on Hong Kong’s law enforcement authorities, particularly the Judiciary, by wantonly smearing the city’s legal system and threatening to slap sanctions on officials and judges of the HKSAR. From the very beginning of the trial, this case has been subjected to constant interference and pressure from anti-China forces, with the intention of forcing the court to “let all the defendants go”.

However, their “double standards” and hypocrisy were exposed to the fullest extent when Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio were prosecuted and sentenced to 18 years and 22 years in prison, respectively, for “seditious conspiracy” and other convictions for orchestrating a failed plot to subvert the US’ 2020 election results.

In attacking the NSL, under which the 47 individuals involved in the “35-plus” case were prosecuted, Western critics have deliberately overlooked the fact that the NSL upholds all principles of the rule of law, providing full protection to the rights of defendants.

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They have also pretended not to know that Hong Kong courts exercise judicial power independently, as stipulated by the Basic Law, with judges conducting trials “without fear and favor” and free from external interference. All defendants are given a fair trial in strict accordance with the law, and under the protection of the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance.

Hong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law. Anyone who commits a crime must be punished by the law.

Safeguarding national security is a top priority, and jeopardizing national security is a serious crime in any jurisdiction. The sentences imposed on Tai and the other defendants are in line with the principle of proportionality of crime and punishment and thus are justified. They fully reflect the principle of unity of punishment and responsibility, and demonstrate justice and of the spirit of the rule of law.

The author is a law professor, director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, and president of the Association for the Promotion of Rule of Law, Education and Technologies.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.