British non-governmental organization Hong Kong Watch, which has been closely following the human rights situation in Hong Kong, has called on the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to implement targeted sanctions as a strong response to the Hong Kong government’s expanding transnational suppression.
The activists are the six Hong Kong nationals Chung Kim-wah, Tony Chung Han-lam, Carmen Lau Ka-man, Victor Ho Leung-mau, Joe Tay King-kei, and Chloe Cheung Hei-ching. The seven absconders include Hong Kong nationals Ted Hui Chi-fung, Anna Kwok Fung-yee, Elmer Yuan Gong-yi, Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, Kevin Yam Kin-fung, Frances Hui Wing-ting, and Joey Siu Lam.
Call for Sanctions
“Hong Kong Watch” issued a statement on the Hong Kong government’s actions on Dec. 25.Chris Patten, its sponsor and a former Hong Kong governor, said that the Hong Kong government’s brutal suppression of pro-democracy activists who are overseas is a blatant act of overreach and disregard for international standards.
Patten also said that the governments of the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia must take decisive and concerted action to protect these social activists from the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) transnational repression, ensure their safety, and strongly resist Beijing’s attempts to undermine the cherished democratic values of the free world.
Megan Khoo, policy director at “Hong Kong Watch,” said she strongly condemns the Hong Kong government’s actions of issuing bounties and canceling passports of political dissidents. She believes that these actions are clearly transnational repression aimed at extending the scope of the CCP’s totalitarian control from Hong Kong to overseas.
‘A Trivial Trick of Tyranny’
Ted Hui Chi-fung, a former member of the Legislative Council, participated in the primary election of Hong Kong’s pan-democratic party in August 2020. He later jumped bail, went into exile, and was granted political asylum in Australia where he has become a practicing lawyer. He said on Facebook on Dec. 24 that the Hong Kong government’s action was fully expected.Hui criticized that “this trivial trick of tyranny” has not affected his life in a free country. He said that the Hong Kong government’s move is “stupid” because it will provide democratic countries with more reasons to grant political asylum or refugee status to Hongkongers in need.
Kevin Yam Kin-fung, who left Hong Kong in 2020 and holds dual Hong Kong residency and Australian citizenship, responded on Facebook that because he has never applied for a Hong Kong SAR passport, he does not know how the Hong Kong government can revoke or suspend it.
“What’s the logic?” he wrote.
He also said his Hong Kong Solicitor’s Practicing Certificate has not been renewed for quite some time.
Tony Chung Han-lam, who was sentenced by the Hong Kong authorities in 2021 after being accused of secession and money laundering, went to the United Kingdom to seek asylum after his release from prison in 2023. He said on his social media platform that as a “staunch Hong Kong nationalist,” being added to the government’s wanted list is “undoubtedly an affirmation.”
Abuses Undermine Credibility of Judicial System
The Hong Kong-based Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights (HKCHR) condemned the authorities for treating freedom of expression and peaceful political advocacy as crimes, saying they were using national security as an excuse to suppress pro-democracy dissidents, violating human rights guaranteed by the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.It noted that peace initiatives and political opinions are protected under the UN Covenant. Even if the opinions are not accepted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Hong Kong government, they do not constitute a national security threat, the group said.
The HKCHR is also concerned that the authorities have revoked the professional qualifications of lawyers Dennis Kwok Wing-hang and Kevin Yam Kin-fung. It said this action undermines the professional autonomy of lawyers and their independent regulatory agencies, and threatens the rule of law. The way the Hong Kong government uses national security laws not only undermines the credibility of the legal system but shows that judicial independence and the professional autonomy of lawyers are under political threat, the group said.
It also pointed out that Article 47 of the national security law and Section 115 of Article 23 give the city’s chief executive the power to intervene in judicial proceedings, including issuing binding certificates and appointing select judges to hear national security cases. These measures, together with practices such as eliminating juries and trials behind closed doors, further weaken judicial independence, allowing administrative agencies to influence judicial decisions, putting the foundation of the rule of law in jeopardy, it said.
The HKCHR reiterated that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, multiple human rights convention committees, and multiple human rights special rapporteurs have repeatedly said the CCP’s national security law violates human rights, demanding its withdrawal and the suspension of related prosecutions. They have called on the Hong Kong government to accept those recommendations and take immediate remedial action.
