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Members of Congress including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) Chair Rep. Chris Smith joined the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation and other advocacy groups in calling for a swift and stern U.S. policy response to the unjust sentencing of Hong Kong political prisoners.
A panel of Hong Kong government-picked judges on Tuesday delivered sentences ranging from four to 10 years to the 45 pro-democracy activists (the HK45) who were convicted in the trial of the so-called Hong Kong 47. The sentencing concludes a sham ‘national security’ trial related to their participation in a 2020 democratic primary election.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi addresses a rally in support of the HK45 on Capitol Hill with CFHK Foundation’s Frances Hui (furthest left), Rep. Chris Smith (next from left), and representatives of other advocacy groups.
CFHK Foundation President Mark Clifford issued a statement on the HK45 sentencing: “What we have seen today is not justice but political theatre. It would be a farce, or ‘comical’ as defendant Gwyneth Ho so eloquently said, except that it is a tragedy for those political prisoners who have cumulatively been sentenced to almost 250 years in prison,” he said.
Jimmy Lai's Trial Update
Jimmy Lai’s show trial resumed Wednesday with the 76-year-old taking the stand in his own defence after four years continuous imprisonment. “The core values of Apple Daily [were] actually the core value of the people of Hong Kong,” he told the court. “Freedom, the pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly.”
Detailed trial updates available here: Support Jimmy Lai
Global media coverage of Jimmy Lai’s trial proceedings was widespread but the Wall Street Journal’s Austin Ramzy penned one of the more poignant pieces, quoting CFHK Foundation President Mark Clifford, who has written a forthcoming biography of Jimmy Lai, titled “The Troublemaker.”
Hong Kong
Hong Kong authorities responded to last week's United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention finding that Jimmy Lai is being held unlawfully and should be immediately released by directing their ire at his international legal team, claiming it had misled the UN over his treatment in custody.
HK45 defendants Gwyneth Ho and Owen Chow, both of whom pleaded not guilty, were sentenced to seven years and seven years and nine months in prison, respectively. On the day of their sentencing, they posted social media statements reaffirming their resolve. “We dare to act, and we dare to suffer,” Gwyneth wrote. Owen Chow said, “Even though the day of freedom is still far away, we finally see the end.”
U.S. - Hong Kong
In a statement, the Chairs of the bipartisan CECC, Rep. Christoper Smith and Sen. Jeff Merkley, said Jimmy Lai’s trial and the sentencing of the HK45 “violates international law and must be widely condemned—including by the U.S. State Department. The Biden administration should levy sanctions on judges and prosecutors responsible for undermining democracy and human rights in Hong Kong.”
The State Department took steps to impose new visa restrictions on multiple Hong Kong officials responsible for implementation of the National Security Law (NSL), and by calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the HK45.
Sen. Ben Cardin, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement describing the unjust sentencing of the HK45 as “the culmination of Beijing’s attempts to eliminate Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition and erase its remaining autonomy.”
The CFHK Foundation took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times chastising global financial leaders for attending a summit in Hong Kong that ran concurrent with the sentencing of the HK45 and the resumption of Jimmy Lai’s trial.
UK - Hong Kong
British legislator Alicia Kearns was one of more than 100 politicians who signed a joint letter demanding Jimmy Lai’s immediate release. The group, which included representatives from Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, and France, said Jimmy Lai's treatment was "inhumane."
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was widely criticised for refusing to condemn the sentencing of the Hong Kong 47 immediately after meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where he called for “consistent and durable” ties between the UK and China. Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Catherine West released the government’s official response, stating that “the UK will always stand up for the people of Hong Kong.”
Canada - Hong Kong
Sen. Leo Housakos condemned the HK45 sentencing in Canada’s upper house, calling the activists’ imprisonment a “calculated act of oppression against all who value the principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.”
Michael Chong MP, Conservative Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, released a statement on behalf of his party highlighting that the National Security Law violates the rights and freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kongers under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
John McKay MP supported an Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China statement calling on global governments to review their diplomatic engagement with Hong Kong while Tom Kmiec MP condemned the oppressive use of the NSL as a sign of weakness “from the Beijing dictatorship.”
CFHK Foundation Strategy and Public Affairs Advisor, Shannon Van Sant, told CBC’s “Your World Tonight” that “China still has tremendous economic influence around the world through which they exercise coercion and leverage.”
🔥Flame of Freedom Blog
Anger at the Injustice: Responding to the Hong Kong 45 Sentences
This blog is authored by Chloe Cheung, Communications and Media Assistant at the CFHK Foundation.
“When political prisoners are made to feel grateful for reduced sentences in cases where no crime was committed, we are normalising authoritarianism. We are lowering our collective standards for what justice should look like. That is the travesty of what has happened here; that it should not have happened at all.”
Read more here