Formed during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, HKDC was one of the largest groups of exiled activists following the imposition of national security law in 2020 by Chinese government.

The council said their mission is to "protect Hong Kong's basic freedoms, autonomy, and the rule of law",[2][3] and conducted research and political work on "educational outreach, community empowerment, and policy advocacy".

[15] In January 2021, HKDC assisted in the rescue of five Hong Kong protesters, aged 18–26 who fled by boat to Taiwan in July 2020 soon after the national security law was imposed,[16] by sponsoring the first set of humanitarian parole visas to the US.

[21] HKDC's research team publishes reports on digital authoritarianism, political persecution, and other human rights issues in Hong Kong.

[25] In a report released in October 2022, HKDC criticized executives that attended Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit were "lending credibility" to the whitewashing campaign of Hong Kong authorities and to John Lee.

[31] It hosted screening tour in 20 cities for Revolution of Our Times, a 2021 documentary about the large scale protests that was banned in Hong Kong.