Miles Kwan
Miles Kwan is a 24-year-old student who is currently studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is known for being detained by the Cheung Sha Wan Division Police Force in Hong Kong for creating a petition demanding answers from the Hong Kong Government and authorities regarding the Wang Fuk Court fire. As of 5 December 2025, he is on bail.
Background
On 26 November 2025, a large fire broke out in Wang Fuk Court, an apartment complex in Tai Po, Hong Kong. The fire impacted seven of the eight towers in the complex, causing 168 deaths. The fire is considered the largest fire in Hong Kong ever since the Wing On warehouse fire in 1948.The safety netting covering the lower levels of Wang Cheong House is thought to be where the fire originated. On November 26, 2025, at 2:00 HKT a resident of Wang Shing House detected smoke through her window, which was the first indication of a fire at Wang Cheong House.
The fire spread rapidly, escalating from the initial one-alarm fire to a four-alarm fire by 3:34, and a five-alarm fire by 6:22, which was the highest level. As a result of the fire, 21 people were arrested by the Hong Kong Police Force, with 15 being charged for alleged manslaughter.
Initial Government Neglect
The Hong Kong Labour Department, which is in charge of construction safety, revealed that since 2024, estate residents had been making fire safety complaints to them regarding the Bamboo scaffolding and green construction netting around their buildings, which had been placed there for renovations. According to reports, the government had visited the site multiple times, most recently on 20 November. The contractor had received warnings from the department, but they had never been enforced.Petition and Arrest
Not long after the fire, the 24-year-old Chinese University of Hong Kong student, Miles Kwan, created an online petition demanding more transparency and accountability from the government. The petition had four demands, including the creation of an impartial commission of inquiry to look into the fire's circumstances and determine whether any conflicts of interest might have played a role in the catastrophe.On Friday, 28 November, Kwan positioned himself at the exit of the Tai Po Market MTR station and handed out leaflets consisting of the petition's four demands to anyone who wanted them. "We Hong Kongers are united in grief, united in anger about this fire," Kwan told local media outlet Hong Kong Free Press at the station. However, the petition was removed from the internet on Saturday, 29 November, just three days after the fire. The petition had garnered over 10,000 signatures before it's removal. Prior to the petition's disappearance, the Chinese National Security Office in Hong Kong had already condemned the petition, accusing the supporters of the petition to have used “the banner of ‘petitioning the people’ to incite confrontation and tear society apart.”
Subsequently, Kwan was arrested by the Hong Kong National Security Police on suspicion of sedition, with the police claiming that the arrest "would handle any action taken in accordance with the law and the actual circumstances". On Monday, 1 December, Kwan was seen leaving the Cheung Sha Wan division police station in a taxi. He pulled down his face mask and nodded at the reporters, but did not say anything. He is currently on bail. On Friday, November 28, Kwan also told Agence France-Presse (AFP), a leading global news agency headquartered in Paris, France, "If these ideas are deemed seditious or ‘crossing the line’, then I feel I can't predict the consequences of anything any more, and I can only do what I truly believe."
Aftermath and Reactions
Following Kwan's arrest, two other people, including Kenneth Cheung, a former district councillor, was arrested. The Hong Kong Office For Safeguarding National Security also accused people of exploiting the fire to turn Hong Kong back to the “black-clad violence” that had occurred during mass protests in 2019. On Monday, 1 December, Wen Wei Po, a pro-Beijing state-owned newspaper in Hong Kong told the general public to be vigilant towards “anti-government elements” with “malicious intentions”, stating “they have even gone so far as to ‘act as representatives’ to establish a so-called ‘concern group,’ put forward so-called ‘four demands,’ distribute leaflets, and launch a petition, all in an attempt to incite public unrest,” and “their actions are utterly devoid of conscience and humanity.” describing Kwan and the supporters of his petition. As a result, Nathan Law, an activist, referred to the government's actions as "outrageous", stating it was an example of the “highly authoritarian trend” in Hong Kong. Law went further, stating "The government worries about people congregating and initiating collective action, whether it is political or not," to which the police did not respond. Ronny Tong, a non-official member of Hong Kong's de facto cabinet, stated “If you look at the major newspapers in Hong Kong, there are very many various suggestions and… criticisms of the handling of the incident in Hong Kong, so by no means is there a general suppression of different views or criticisms of the government."Regina Ip, a lawyer and former member of the Legco in Hong Kong, like Tong, defended the arrests of Kwan and Cheung, claiming that the Hong Kong authorities are being "extra careful" to ensure the public unrest doesn't result in a "recurrence of the 2019 riots", also stating that "You have to differentiate genuine expressions of opinion from petitions with criminal intent. That is what our courts will have to find out." Samuel Chu, a pro-democracy activist, reposted Kwan's petition on a separate social media platform, before stating "It's baffling how Miles was for asking basic questions on behalf of many residents, which the government went on to address anyway." John Lee Ka-chiu, Hong Kong's chief executive, claimed he would "ensure justice is " to anyone who attempted to "sabotage" relief efforts.
In a press conference, Lee went further and claimed “We will show no tolerance for those who disrupt this unity now, who exploit this tragedy.” Beijing's national security office in Hong Kong also commented again, making the statement that "anti-China disruptors" would face the "full force" of the National Security Law.