Top News
Next week, the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHK Foundation) and Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) are co-hosting a Hong Kong Symposium in the U.S. Congress. China experts will provide remarks and participate in panels on how to effectively counter the threat of the Chinese Communist Party and safeguard freedom in Hong Kong and around the world. Speakers will include Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ-04), Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA-02), Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08).
The CFHK Foundation celebrates the news that Australian journalist Cheng Lei was freed from her three-year detention in China. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Cheng’s release while she was greeted in Melbourne by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Mark Sabah, UK and EU Director of the CFHK Foundation, said, “The international community must now turn their attention to other political prisoners in China and Hong Kong including Jimmy Lai. We call on the British government to double their efforts to see him freed as soon as possible.”
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong police arrested pro-democracy activist ‘Grandpa Chan’ for displaying banners on Lion Rock that read, “Fierce-browed, I coolly defy a thousand pointing fingers. Head bowed like a willing ox, I serve the children”.
Owen Chow, a 26-year-old political prisoner who is part of the trial of the Hong Kong 47, was sent to solitary confinement and received an extra day in prison for “possessing an egg tart [in his prison cell] without permission”.
‘Pillar of Shame’ sculptor Jens Galschiøt told Radio Free Asia it is currently impossible for him to return to Hong Kong to seize back his statue that was confiscated by the Hong Kong national security police at the University of Hong Kong in 2021.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong urged the Hong Kong authorities to provide “straightforward interpretations and applications” of the National Security Law in Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s upcoming policy address.
The salaries of 200 Hong Kong judges and judicial officers are set to rise by 3.62 percent to support the resources and manpower needed to handle the overwhelming number of national security cases.
Hong Kong-UN Relations
China was re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) despite the efforts of the CFHK Foundation and over 80 other human rights organisations to oppose China’s seat on the UNHRC ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
United Nations (UN) experts denounced the trial of the Hong Kong 47 and expressed concern regarding the HK$1 million bounties on the heads of eight exiled Hong Kongers worldwide. “China should review its National Security Law to ensure that the law is in compliance with China’s international human rights obligations with respect to the Hong Kong SAR,” the experts said.
US-China Relations
The U.S. Department of State released a statement condemning the forced repatriation of Chinese human rights and Hong Kong 12 lawyer Lu Siwei from Laos to China.
Comments