UK Government Urged to Sanction Hong Kong Officials

(L-R) Lord David Alton of Liverpool, former Hong Kong pro-democracy District Councillor Timothy Hin-Long Lee, international human rights campaigner and Head of Global Magnitsky Justice campaign Bill Browder, and pro-democracy activists Venus and Francis at a Stand With Hong Kong report launch in Parliament in Westminster, London, on Nov. 14, 2022. V/The Epoch Times

The UK government was urged on Monday to sanction 16 current and former officials in Hong Kong, including Chief Executive John Lee and his predecessor Carrie Lam.

A report (pdf), published by campaign group Stand with Hong Kong, was launched in Parliament on Monday evening at an event hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong.

The groups urged the UK government, which is one of the signatories of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, to sanction the Hong Kong officials for breaching the agreement and violating rights during protests against the Extradition Bill in 2019 and after the imposition of Beijing’s National Security Law.

The report listed 16 individuals—nine of whom were sanctioned by the United States—urging the UK government to impose financial and travel sanctions on them.

Lam, former chief executive of the region, is included as she “repeatedly sanctioned and supported the action of HKPF [Hong Kong Police Force] in their use of excessive force on protesters during the Anti-Extradition Bill Protests” and “led the HKSAR [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] government in suppressing freedom of expression or assembly in Hong Kong.

Lee, secretary for security, was also responsible for the introduction of the Extradition Bill and the clamping down on pro-democracy protests, the report said.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (L) and police chief Stephen Lo (R) look on as Hong Kong's security chief, John Lee (C), addresses the media at a press conference in Hong Kong on July 22, 2019.Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

Also on the list are former Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng, former Deputy Commissioner of Police Chris Tang, former Commissioner of Police Stephen Lo, former Director of the Chief Executive Office Eric Chan, former Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang, former Deputy Commissioner of Police Edwina Lau, HKPF National Security Department’s former Senior Superintendent Stever Li, who were sanctioned by the United States.

Others on the list are senior police officers Rupert Dover, David Jordan, Justin Shave, Lee Wai-man, Yau Nai-keung, Li Hon-man, and Michael Cheuk, who the group says were involved in a number of police conflicts with protesters, including at the Prince Edward Station on Aug. 31, 2019, Hong Kong Polytechnic University in November 2019, and near the Legislative Council on June 12, 2019; and the mob attack against protesters at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2019.

Former councillor Timothy Lee told the report launch event that the current list only includes those believed to be responsible for suppressing freedom of protest in 2019.

Since the UK independently sanctioned Russian and Saudi nationals for the first time in 2020 using its new post-Brexit sanctions regime, lawmakers have pushed the government to sanction Lam and other officials responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong adherents, the Uyghurs, and other victims.

The Epoch Times reached out to the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office for comment.