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Brian Wong

A Hong Kong court has jailed a man for 14 years for his role in an “evil” bomb plot against the authorities during and after the 2019 anti-government protests.
The High Court on Thursday convicted Cheung Lai-ming of four charges after he pleaded guilty to making explosives at his public rental flat in Wong Tai Sin, with a view to carrying out attacks between August 2019 and May 2022.
The 35-year-old programmer also admitted keeping more than 20kg (44lbs) of chemicals capable of making explosives at his home and in a storage room in San Po Kong.
Cheung, a University of Hong Kong graduate, was initially due to stand trial under the Beijing-imposed national security law for allegedly conspiring with others to commit terrorist acts.
Prosecutors agreed not to pursue the terrorism charge on condition that he pleaded guilty to the remaining four counts under the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance: conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life or property, attempting to make an explosive substance, and two counts of possessing explosive substances.
Mr Justice Andrew Chan Hing-wai said Cheung and his co-conspirators intended to plunge the city into “maximum chaos”, disrupt public order and undermine the stability of Hong Kong’s political system by targeting government officials, police officers and judges.
Chan, appointed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to oversee national security cases, said the group showed no regard for innocent residents as it planned attacks on railway stations using bombs and biochemical weapons.
“The conspiracy was an evil one, and it was no different from any attempt to mount any terrorist attack in a densely populated city anywhere in the globe,” he said.
“The defendant and his co-conspirators sought to attack the integrity of [Hong Kong] by causing public fear.”
On May 23, 2022, police raided Cheung’s flat at Kwai Tung House in Tung Tau II Estate after tracking down a Telegram user involved in discussions on producing explosives for use against officials.
Officers found a wide array of chemicals and laboratory equipment, including a glass beaker containing 236 grams of picric acid, which is explosive when crystallised.
A postcard depicting protesters and a desecrated regional emblem and a poster bearing the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”, were also seized as evidence.

Police also searched a mini-storage unit at Prince Industrial Building after Cheung revealed he had rented the space to store certain chemicals.
An examination of the defendant’s mobile phone revealed his active participation in Telegram exchanges from August 27, 2019.
Using the alias Laam Chau, meaning “mutual destruction”, Cheung said he wanted to stage an unprecedented explosion to put pressure on the government.
He discussed the production of various high explosives, including RDX, trinitrotoluene (TNT) and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), and suggested disguising a proposed underground arsenal as agricultural farms.
Members of the group considered possible targets, including the homes of an unspecified government official and a Court of Appeal judge, as well as government offices, police facilities, courts and MTR stations.
On May 22, 2020, after an unidentified user told him the national security law would soon be promulgated, he replied that it would not stop him and that he might carry on with his plan as a “lone wolf”.
Cheung also claimed he planned to do “something big” before fleeing to Lithuania, saying he had been preparing for it over the past decade.
Under caution, Cheung denied being a radical activist and said he had only intended to get close to the group to defraud them using his knowledge of explosives.
He maintained that the chemical formulas he provided to Telegram users were fake and unworkable, and that he had planned to abscond once he had been paid.
Defence counsel David Ma Wai-kwan described the case as “all talk and no action”, but Chan said the defendant did not appear to be joking or trying to deceive his accomplices.
“The conspiracy was a dead serious one given the social and political context in the years of 2019 to 2022,” the judge added.
The court sentenced Cheung to between three years and nine months and 12 years for each offence before ordering some of the terms to run consecutively, resulting in a total sentence of 14 years.
A new national security regulation that came into force last week allows the chief executive to certify cases as involving “offences endangering national security” and retroactively bring them under stricter procedures, including denying the standard one-third sentence reduction for good behaviour in prison.
The South China Morning Post understands that as of Thursday, the city’s leader had not issued such a certificate in this case.


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Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong court jails man for 14 years over ‘evil’ bomb plot

The High Court convicted Cheung Lai-ming of four charges after he pleaded guilty to making explosives with a view to carrying out attacks between August 2019 and May 2022. Photo: Sun Yeung

The group considered possible targets, including the homes of an unspecified government official and a Court of Appeal judge, as well as government offices, police facilities, courts and MTR stations. Photo: James Wendlinger

Man jailed for 10 months over seditious messages thrown from Hong Kong flat

Posters in Mong Kok promote National Security Education Day. Photo: Jelly Tse

4 jailed for rioting at Polytechnic University during 2019 unrest in Hong Kong

Polytechnic University in Hung Hom was the site of some of the most intense confrontations between protesters and police during the 2019 protests. Photo: Sam Tsang

The four defendants were initially released without charge in 2020, but police re-arrested them in 2024 after reviewing surveillance footage. Photo: Winson Wong

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Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Defendant, 35, admits to making explosives as part of a plot against authorities to plunge the city into ‘maximum chaos’ during 2019 unrest


Defendant, 35, admits to making explosives as part of a plot against authorities to plunge the city into ‘maximum chaos’ during 2019 unrest.


Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong protests

Hong Kong national security law (NSL)

Hong Kong police

Hong Kong court jails man for 14 years over ‘evil’ bomb plot

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Defendant, 35, admits to making explosives as part of a plot against authorities to plunge the city into ‘maximum chaos’ during 2019 unrest

Defendant, 35, admits to making explosives as part of a plot against authorities to plunge the city into ‘maximum chaos’ during 2019 unrest