The founder of grocery chain AbouThai, who pleaded guilty to subversion in Hong Kong’s largest national security trial, has severed ties with the “yellow economic circle”, a loose business coalition that had backed the city’s 2019 anti-government protests.

Mike Lam King-nam on Wednesday said the business was no longer linked to the “yellow economic circle”, describing the movement as “wrong” without elaborating in a Facebook post titled: “Hong Kong cannot fall into chaos, nor can it afford chaos.”

Lam is among 47 opposition bloc members who were charged with subversion for their alleged role in an unofficial Legislative Council primary poll in 2020. He earlier said he would contest the charge, but later pleaded guilty in January and agreed to testify for the prosecution.

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“As Hong Kong progresses from order to prosperity, AbouThai will continue to serve Hong Kong in the days to come, telling a proper Hong Kong story, contributing to Hong Kong and the nation,” he wrote.

The yellow economic circle emerged during the 2019 social unrest, which encouraged those sympathetic to the protests to support businesses that shared the same views.

Most businesses involved in the coalition have moved away from overtly displaying their political stance following Beijing’s promulgation of the national security law in June 2020, while some had closed down permanently during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to Lam’s past vocal support for the 2019 protests, the grocery chain was widely recognised as a “yellow shop”, with patrons flocking there in April 2021 when the company was raided by customs officers over allegations of mislabelled goods.

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Previous Facebook posts made by Lam had been deleted from his page, with the exception of one from last August that featured takeaways from President Xi Jinping’s speech in Hong Kong to mark the 25th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese rule.

The official Facebook page for AbouThai was not accessible on Wednesday.

Outside an AbouThai outlet in Causeway Bay, all three customers approached by the Post during the afternoon said they were not aware of the news.

“I don’t usually distinguish the political background of retailers. I was just looking for Thai products,” said a 44-year-old IT worker surnamed Chan.

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The grocery chain was founded by Lam and his wife in 2015, with the business currently consisting of more than 20 outlets in the city.

Lam’s decision to testify for the prosecution in the national security trial has prompted a backlash from supporters of the opposition camp, with actor turned entrepreneur Chapman To Man-chat pulling his line of instant food products from the grocery chain’s shelves.

In February, five people were arrested for allegedly storming into a Mong Kok branch of AbouThai, where they reportedly shouted foul language and harassed customers.

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