The government has been urged pull all British judges from Hong Kong courts after Beijing’s $1 million bounty threat to UK-based pro-democracy activists.
The call was made in the House of Lords on Tuesday as peers demanded action against the ongoing transnational threat from the Chinese Communist Party.
In the Commons, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was urged to drop any plans to visit China, with one senior Tory back bencher telling ministers, “Frankly tough words need to be followed by tough actions.”
Authorities in the former British territory issued arrest warrants for eight pro-democracy activists who fled to Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia for alleged violations of the communist regime’s national security law.
Beijing-backed Hong Kong CEO John Lee said the campaigners—including UK-based Finn Lau and Christopher Mung—will be pursued “for life” with 1 million Hong Kong dollars (£100,500) being offered for information leading to any of their arrests.
Foreign Officer minister Lord Ahmad faced tough questioning from peers over what action the government will now take in response to the China threat.
Lord Alton of Liverpool said: “With bounties of 1 million Hong Kong dollars now on the heads of eight exiled Hong Kongers, with 1,200 pro-democracy activists and advocates incarcerated in Hong Kong including the British citizen Jimmy Lai, with seven parliamentarians—two from your lordship’s house—sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party, how can the noble lord the minister, justify the government’s decision to send a trade minister from your lordship’s house recently to Hong Kong to deepen business ties?
“And how does he respond to the calls last night from his noble friend, Lord Patten of Barnes, and the noble learned lord, Lord Faulkner, calling on the remaining British judges to withdraw from the Hong Kong courts, rather than giving them the thin veneer of respectability?”
Sanctions Call
Stating that the UK will not tolerate any intimidation attempts by the Chinese, the Foreign Office minister said: “Let me be absolutely clear, Hong Kong’s national security law has no jurisdiction here.“As the noble lord will be aware, we suspended our extradition agreement with Hong Kong indefinitely in 2020.
“We continue to call on Beijing and Hong Kong to end the targeting of those who stand up for freedom and democracy.”
Mr. Ahmad added that it is up to individual judges to “view their own status, their own professional standing.”
Defending trade relationships with the Beijing regime, he said there are “key global issues where China does have a role to play and in that, engagement is important.”
Conservative peer Lord Howell of Guildford backed the call for remaining British judges to be removed from Hong Kong’s justice system.
He said that if China wants to be treated as a civilised nation, “then it has to behave in a more civilised and less thuggish way.”
Baroness Helena Kennedy, who is sanctioned by China along with her “entire family,” said those activists currently under threat of arrest by Hong Kong now fear travelling outside the UK.
She said: “They’re fearful that in transit they will be arrested by less hospitable and human rights concerned nations, and actually transported back to either Hong Kong or China in order to be prosecuted.
“So the safety of those of those people who have had these bounties placed on their heads is very serious and real.”
Ms. Kennedy also questioned what conversations the government was having with Chinese officials and why some of its Hong Kong leaders were not on sanctions lists.
The minister responded that the government continues to “look at all our levers” to ensure those who commit “egregious abuse of human rights” are held to account.
Action Needed
Speaking about the issue in the Commons, Tory MP Jason McCartney told Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan about allegations that HMRC has passed details of bank accounts opened by Chinese and Hong Kong individuals to the Beijing regime.He said: “I’m extremely disturbed to hear that HMRC is passing on details of new bank accounts that are opened by Chinese and Hong Kongers in the UK to the Chinese government as part of money laundering efforts.
“Will [she] please work with the Treasury to make sure that this loophole isn’t exploited by the Chinese government, putting exposed Chinese and Hong Kongers here in the UK in danger.”
Ms. Trevelyan replied, “I will be pleased to catch up with [him] after this urgent question to discuss more fully and absolutely I’ll take that up with urgency.”
Reiterating that the UK will “not tolerate any attempts by the Chinese authorities to intimidate” people, Ms. Trevelyan said, “We call on Beijing to remove the national security law and for China and the Hong Kong authorities to end the targeting of those who stand up for freedom and democracy.”
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokeswoman Layla Moran said the government’s words “ring rather hollow” adding, “We need more than just condemnation, we need action and most urgently this means ensuring that these individuals are safe.”
Ms. Moran stressed it is “illegal to bounty hunt in the UK” and called on the government to prosecute those who do it, before adding, “Will the government reconsider the foreign secretary’s planned visit to Beijing in light of this blatant escalation by China of transnational repression?”
Ms. Trevelyan said she could not comment on operational and security matters related to the pro-democracy activists, noting “discussions are ongoing.”
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “The bounties placed on the heads of those fleeing Chinese Communist Party repression and autocracy are not just outrageous but a blatant violation of international law, and also expose the lies of [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping when he says he is respecting freedoms within Hong Kong.
“We must take a stand against transnational repression to protect British nationals but also those seeking refuge in the UK.”
Ms. Kearns added: “Given that three people seeking refuge in the UK have now had bounties put on their head, has the foreign secretary or [Ms. Trevelyan] called in the Chinese ambassador this week in response to it, and if not, why not?”
Ms. Trevelyan said the “bounties are both extraterritorial and therefore have no rights or legitimacy here,” adding the UK speaks “regularly” with Chinese officials.
Conservative former minister Tim Loughton branded events a “particularly chilling extension of the Chinese Communist Party’s tentacles across sovereign borders” adding that “frankly tough words need to be followed by tough actions.”
He said: “When are we going to see some real sanctions, some real calling back of judges, some real implications [of] what China is going to do, rather than tough words that mean nothing.”
Ms. Trevelyan said it was “important to have conversations” and “being frank is only possible if you are in the room together.”
