Event Summary
On 29 November 2025, three days after a catastrophic fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po killed at least 160 people (including one firefighter) with 79 injured and 6 missing, the police national security department arrested university student Miles Kwan on sedition charges. Kwan initiated the “Tai Po Wang Fuk Court Fire Concern Group” petition on Change.org with four demands: continued support for displaced residents, establishment of an independent investigation committee, review of construction supervision systems, and accountability for regulatory negligence and government officials. The petition gathered over 10,000 signatures before being shut down following Kwan’s arrest. He and two friends distributed flyers outside Tai Po MTR station on the evening of 28 November 2025 linked to the petition. The Instagram page and petition link became inaccessible after the arrest. Kwan was released on bail on 1 December 2025. The Office for Safeguarding National Security issued a statement supporting “severe punishment for using disaster to create chaos,” accusing “anti-China troublemakers” of spreading false information, attacking government rescue work, inciting social division and hatred against the Chief Executive, and attempting to return Hong Kong to 2019 “black violence” by exploiting disaster victims’ grief for “political ambition.”