12 September 2024 (Washington D.C.) - The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation hosted the second annual Hong Kong Symposium in the U.S. Congress. Government officials, congressional staffers, civil society, media, and activists attended a series of panels and discussed U.S. policy options to address Beijing’s growing crackdown on Hong Kong and intensifying repression in the city.
U.S. political leaders including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi; Senator Jeff Merkley, Co-Chair of the CECC and Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Congresswoman Young Kim, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Indo-Pacific; and Congressman Jim McGovern, addressed the symposium.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi; Senator Jeff Merkley, Congresswoman Young Kim; and Congressman Jim McGovern speaking at the Hong Kong Symposium
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said, “we need the Chinese Government to know we are not going away and that there has to be a path back to democratic values in Hong Kong. None of this will be effective without the courage that you are all demonstrating. This Hong Kong Symposium is going to make a big difference and I look forward to seeing the result of it.” Senator Jeff Merkley added, “Members of Congress must remember that Hong Kong has gone from a human rights defender to a human rights disaster.”
Congresswoman Young Kim also emphasized the role of the U.S. Government and said, “We must remember that a threat to freedom anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.” Congressman Jim McGovern added, “Standing up for human rights is not interference. It is the obligation of any Government to uphold them. The PRC conveniently forgets that.”
A short video was played at the symposium about the ongoing crackdown in Hong Kong, which has resulted in the imprisonment of nearly 1900 political prisoners, aged 13 to 76. The CFHK Foundation is committed to freeing all political prisoners and to advancing human rights and democracy in Hong Kong. Watch the video here.
During the first panel, moderated by CFHK Foundation President Mark Clifford, Aleksandra Bielakowska of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Anna Kwok, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC), discussed the struggle for media freedom in Hong Kong. The city’s world press freedom ranking has tumbled from 18th two decades ago to 135th today.
China policy analyst Carolyn Bartholomew, previously Chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, moderated a panel on Hong Kong’s central role in sanctions evasion with Samuel Bickett, lawyer and head of the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Roundtable and author of the CFHK Foundation’s recent report, Beneath the Harbor. Doug Klain, Policy Analyst with Razom for Ukraine, also spoke on the panel. They discussed Hong Kong’s role as a center of illicit finance supplying sanctioned regimes such as Russia, Iran, and North Korea. During the panel, Klain said, “If you care about the freedom of Ukraine, you fundamentally care about the freedom of Hong Kong.”
Shannon Van Sant, Strategy & Public Affairs Advisor for the CFHK Foundation, moderated a panel on Hong Kong’s place in China’s national strategy, investment in emerging technologies, and Beijing’s military-civil fusion policy. She spoke with Rick Switzer, Founder and Principal at ProjX Technology Consulting, and Peter Mattis, President of the Jamestown Foundation. They discussed how Hong Kong’s role as a bridge between mainland China and the world is shifting, and how Hong Kong’s investments in emerging technologies exploit gaps in U.S. regulations.
Ambassador James Cunningham, Chairman of the CFHK Foundation said:
“Hong Kong shows what China’s vision of the future is and it is a rejection of what the world would prefer. The Chinese government made negotiated commitments to the people of Hong Kong and the international community. We owe it to ourselves, the people of Hong Kong, and ultimately to the Chinese people to refuse to accept the betrayal of China’s promises now in Hong Kong and in the future.”