Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam (; born 24 August 1990) is a Hong Kong activist and former reporter of the now defunct news outlet ''

Stand News ''Stand News'' ( zh, t=立場新聞) was a free non-profit online news website based in Hong Kong from 2014 to 2021. Founded in December 2014, it was the successor of ''House News''. It primarily focused on social and Politics of Hong Kong, po ...

'', who rose to prominence for her frontline reporting in the

2019–2020 Hong Kong protests The 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests (also known by other names) were a series of demonstrations against the Hong Kong government's introduction of a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in regard to extradition. It was the largest ...

. In June 2020, she announced her candidature in the

2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries The 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries were held on 11 and 12 July 2020 for selecting the numbers of pro-democracy camp, pro-democracy candidates for the subsequently Postponement of the 2020 Hong Kong legislative election, postponed 2020 L ...

, 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.

Education

Ho was educated at

Ho Fung College Ho Fung College () is an English-instructed co-education secondary school in Hong Kong. The school is sponsored bSik Sik Yuen Established in 1974, the school has gained popularity with its all-around student performance across academic discipli ...

and

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

. Ho studied at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

, where she obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

through the

Erasmus Mundus The European Union's Erasmus Mundus programme (named after Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar) aims to enhance quality in higher education through scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students f ...

programme.

Journalism career

Ho joined

Radio Television Hong Kong Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service of Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Economic ...

(RTHK) as an intern reporter in 2011. She later worked for various media outlets, including BBC Chinese and ''The Reporter''. She was also employed as a reporter for '' House News'', the predecessor of ''

''. Ho gained recognition as a frontline reporter for ''Stand News'' in the

, acquiring the nickname "Sister Stand News" (立場姐姐). On 1 July 2019, Ho was one of the reporters present inside the

Legislative Council Complex The Legislative Council Complex (LegCo Complex) is the headquarters of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. The complex plays a central role in the legislative process of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), and it has been a foc ...

, where she reported on the storming of the Legislative Council. She interviewed a young

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...

activist who expressed solidarity with other Hong Kong protesters, which garnered Ho a lot of attention for her reporting. On 21 July, Ho reported on the

2019 Yuen Long attack The 2019 Yuen Long attack, also known as the 721 incident, refers to a mob attack that occurred in Yuen Long, a town in the New Territories of Hong Kong, on the evening of 21 July 2019. It took place in the context of the 2019–2020 Hong K ...

, where swarms of suspected triad gangsters assaulted pro-democracy protesters at the Yuen Long MTR station. She had been

live streaming Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

the attack, which showed one of the violent assailants striking protesters over the barrier of a train's passenger gantry. The assailant suddenly ran towards Ho and started hitting her. Ho continued filming even after she was struck and knocked to the ground, capturing footage of

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

s attending to the injured. She was hospitalized after the attack, suffering from minor head, hand, and shoulder injuries. Ho's video footage went viral internationally, shocking the audience about the horrors of the night.

Legislative Council bid, arrest, and sentencing for 2020 vigil

On 18 June 2020, Ho announced her intention to run in the (subsequently postponed)

2020 Hong Kong legislative election The 2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was originally scheduled on 6 September 2020 until it was postponed by the government. On 31 July 2020, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that she was invoking the ...

after quitting her journalism career. Her decision to quit journalism was partly motivated by the Yuen Long incident from 21 July 2019 in which she had been injured. In July 2020, Ho participated in the pro-democracy primaries within the

New Territories East New Territories East is the eastern part of New Territories, covering North District, Hong Kong, North, Tai Po District, Tai Po, Sha Tin District, Sha Tin, and Sai Kung District. History All districts except Sai Kung District have been connected ...

constituency. With 26,802 votes, Ho had the highest number of votes among the candidates, securing a nomination ticket in the general election. On 30 July 2020, it was announced that Ho had been disqualified, along with several other pro-democracy candidates, from running. On 6 January 2021, Ho was among 53 members of the pro-democratic camp who were

arrested An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be Interroga ...

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. Ho was released on bail on 7 January, 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. 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 Tonyee Chow Hang-tung (; born 24 January 1985) is a Hong Kong activist, barrister and politician. During the crackdown by authorities on the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which began in June 2021 and ...

and

Jimmy Lai Lai Chee-ying ( zh, t=黎智英; born 8 December 1947), also known as Jimmy Lai, is a Hong Kong businessman and politician. He founded Giordano (clothing), Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer, Next Digital (formerly Next Media), a Hong Kon ...

, Ho had contested her charges. 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. District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock dismissed the arguments by Ho as "frankly non-sensical", as with the arguments of Chow and Lai. On 13 December, Ho was sentenced to six months in prison on the charges. On 30 May 2024, Ho was found guilty of subversion in the primary elections case, along with 13 other defendants. She received a sentence of seven years in November 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Gwyneth 1990 births Living people Hong Kong democracy activists Hong Kong women activists Hong Kong localists Hong Kong journalists Tsinghua University alumni University of Amsterdam alumni Prisoners and detainees of Hong Kong Political prisoners held by Hong Kong