Before the 2019 protests

The Hong Kong National Front (HKNF) was founded by a small group of young activists in 2015.^[4] It reportedly had a membership of 30 people in May 2018,^[1] but by the end of the year the number of participants in its rallies had dropped to around 20.^[4]

Baggio Leung, the convenor of the localist political party Youngspiration, announced on 24 September 2018 that he had joined the HKNF as its new spokesperson.^[4][5] The announcement came an hour before the similarly-named Hong Kong National Party was banned by the Hong Kong government over "national security concerns", a decision which Leung expected.^[4] Leung had briefly served as a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in late 2016; he was unseated for making inappropriate remarks against China during his oath of office.^[4] The HKNF expressed its hope that Leung's membership would allow the HKNF and Youngspiration to better coordinate with each other and share resources.^[5] It also described Leung's decision to join as an "important step toward moving the gears of [Hong Kong] history forward".^[5] Leung reciprocated these sentiments in his own statement, saying: "[The Hong Kong independence camp] must show unity when it is being suppressed. I hope that by joining the HKNF I will allow [the HKNF] to continue its work."^[5]

The HKNF supported a February 2019 petition which demanded a public apology from the school administration of Xianggang Putonghua Yanxishe Primary School of Science and Creativity in Tin Shui Wai.^[6] During a news report by i-Cable, multiple students from the school told interviewers that they faced reprimand and punishment if they spoke Cantonese in class.^[6] The HKNF released a joint statement on the matter alongside Tin Shui Wai New Force, Studentlocalism, Students Independence Union [zh], and Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis [zh].^[6]

The HKNF's Facebook page was the target of a disinformation and harassment campaign in 2019. Facebook posts made by the HKNF received thousands of comments falsely accusing HKNF members of extreme violence and links to the United States' Central Intelligence Agency.^[7] Steven Feldstein, an American researcher who previously worked for the U.S. State Department, attributed the campaign to the Chinese government.^[7]

Explosives case

In the early morning hours of 20 July 2019, officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force raided a unit on the 20th floor of Lung Shing Factory Building in Tsuen Wan and found a cache of high explosives.^[8] An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was subsequently dispatched and 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb) of TATP,^{[lower-alpha 4]} 10 incendiary devices, and several jugs of acid were seized.^[9] According to police, bomb disposal experts then safely destroyed the TATP in a controlled explosion on the factory's rooftop.^[10] The owner of the unit was Louis Lo,^{[lower-alpha 1]} the then convenor of the HKNF.^[10] He was arrested and charged with "possessing explosives without a license".^[8] Two other men surnamed Hau and Tang were also arrested and received the same charge.^[8] Commenting on the raid, Leung told Hong Kong Free Press that he could not yet confirm why explosives were found in Lo's unit, but more information would become available to the public once Lo was released on bail.^[9] However, Lo was denied bail due to the seriousness of his alleged crime, which occurred amidst anti-government protests.^[11]

The prosecution focused on the amount of TATP discovered inside Lo's unit while building their case against him. Prosecutors noted that the amount of TATP found by police was the largest such discovery since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.^[12][13] The defence, however, countered by questioning whether police really did find that much TATP, as bomb disposal experts supposedly detonated the explosives safely on the factory's rooftop, even though a mere 280 grams (9.9 oz) of TATP would be enough to blow up an airplane.^[13] On 25 November 2019, the prosecution amended Lo's charge to "manufacturing explosives with the intent to endanger life or property" and requested that the case be referred to the High Court.^[14] The prosecution's request was approved by magistrate Colin Wong on 2 March 2020.^[15]

After several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, Lo's sentencing was held on 23 April 2021.^[16] He pleaded guilty to one count of "possessing explosives with the intent to endanger life or property" and was sentenced to 12 years in prison by High Court Justice Andrew Chan.^[16] During the sentencing, Chan compared Lo's case with that of Yip Kai-foon, an infamous Chinese gangster of the 1980s and 1990s who was found with 1.8 kilograms (4.0 lb) of explosives when he was arrested.^[17] Lo appealed his sentence, but the Court of Appeal refused his request on 25 April 2022.^[17]

Dissolution of Hong Kong branch

On 30 June 2020, the day the Hong Kong national security law was passed and came into force, the HKNF announced that it was dissolving its branch in Hong Kong and indefinitely moving its operations abroad to Taiwan and the United Kingdom.^{[18][19][20][21]} Although the law did not ban the HKNF specifically, it did outlaw "acts of secession".^[2]