On August 10, a day after the Five Eyes Alliance released a joint statement, the Hong Kong government arrested Jimmy Lai, his sons, and many other Hong Kong pro-democracy activists under the National Security Law. After the imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, the Ministry of State Security of China and the Hong Kong government recently launched a series of actions to arrest students, to disqualify candidates from running for elections, and to postpone the legislative Council election.
On August 9, the U.S. Department of State released a joint statement by the Five Eyes Alliance condemning the CCP’s erosion of the Hong Kong people’s freedom. The statement said: “We the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and the United States Secretary of State are gravely concerned by the Hong Kong government’s unjust disqualification of candidates and disproportionate postponement of Legislative Council elections. These moves have undermined the democratic process that has been fundamental to Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity. We express deep concern at Beijing’s imposition of the new National Security Law, which is eroding the Hong Kong people’s fundamental rights and liberties. We call on the Hong Kong government to reinstate the eligibility of disqualified candidates so that the elections can take place in an environment conducive to the exercise of democratic rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Basic Law.”
The statement ended with: “Beijing promised autonomy and freedom under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle to the Hong Kong people in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, an UNregistered treaty, and must honor its commitments.”
