Hong Kong Freedom and Human Rights Situation Continues to Deteriorate: UK Report

Police keep watch over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour as the city marks the 27th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China, on July 1, 2024. Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

The UK government released its latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong on March 27, covering Hong Kong’s political, legal, and human rights situation from July to December 2024.

The report found that Hong Kong’s freedom and human rights conditions continued to deteriorate and criticized the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for not fulfilling its commitments in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Under the implementation of the 2020 National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong, the local government has further restricted political freedom and press freedom, according to the report. Many democracy advocates and dissidents have either been prosecuted or convicted.

As of November 2024, 304 people have been arrested under the NSL for alleged “national security” crimes, and 176 were prosecuted.

Since the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance was enacted in March 2024, a total of 15 people were arrested under this law as of the completion of the UK report, four of whom were charged with incitement, with three of those being convicted.

According to the report, Hong Kong’s judicial independence is also facing challenges. Hong Kong courts are becoming harsher in their judgments when hearing national security cases, and the NSL grants the chief executive higher authority on national security matters than the courts.

The report criticizes the Hong Kong government’s continued suppression of the democratic movement. It mentions, in particular, the pro-democracy primary elections trial and the deterioration of the media environment, including the allegations against senior executives of Apple Daily of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the NSL, the conviction of the editor of “Stand News” for incitement, and the temporary suspension of The Epoch Times.

The report also criticized the CCP’s transnational suppression, condemning the National Security Department’s decision to issue arrest warrants and offer a bounty of HK$1 million (US$128,000) on six overseas Hong Kong activists on Dec. 24, 2024. The six activists were Chung Kim-wah, Tony Chung Hon-lam, Carmen Lau Ka-man, Victor Ho Leung-mau, Joe Tay King-kei, and Chloe Cheung Hei-ching. The National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force has so far issued a total of 19 arrest warrants for overseas Hongkongers.

The report concluded that according to the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China agreed that Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy and guaranteed that Hong Kong’s social and economic systems, way of life, and protection of rights and freedoms would continue. However, during the period covered by the report in the second half of 2024, the CCP violated those guarantees.