Hong Kong Watch Briefing on Human Rights Developments: September 2023

This briefing describes developments in Hong Kong in September 2023 focusing on the rapid deterioration of human rights in the city following the introduction of the National Security Law.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

POLITICAL PRISONERS: ARRESTS, CHARGES, & TRIALS

In the last month, Beijing continued its crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, with the following developments:

  • On Jimmy Lai’s landmark 1,000th day behind bars, 67 organisations from around the world write to US President Joe Biden calling for action on Hong Kong

  • Jimmy Lai’s lawyers face threats from China for defending media mogul

  • Hong Kong national security police take away self-exiled democrat Ted Hui’s in-laws for questioning

  • Mainland Chinese student jailed for six months over plan to display Tiananmen monument banner in Hong Kong

THE STATE OF THE RULE OF LAW AND POLICING

  • Beijing tells foreign consulates in Hong Kong to hand over the personal details of all locally hired staff

  • Hong Kong’s top court rules in favour of legal recognition for same-sex couples

MEDIA FREEDOM IN THE CROSS HAIRS

  • The chairman of Hong Kong's leading journalist group found guilty of obstructing a police officer

  • PayPal donations to Hong Kong Free Press frozen

STATE SECURITY AND ECONOMY

  • City regulators urged to review Hong Kong’s ties to the London Metal Exchange

  • Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, head of public affairs at HSBC, will leave the bank in October after he sparked outrage by suggesting that Britain was too tough on China

  • CPP Investments, Canada’s biggest pension fund, has laid off at least five investment professionals at its Hong Kong office as it steps back from deals in China

  • Beijing stops one of China’s best-known international bankers from leaving the country

  • Trading of shares of heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande suspended in Hong Kong

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

  • Hong Kong Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, visits Europe

  • The UK government makes a commitment to provide greater mental health support for young people from Hong Kong as part of a new £2.5 million government fund

  • The UK government launches latest Six-Monthly Report on Hong Kong, concluding that “the threat of prosecution under national security offences continues to suppress free speech, stifle opposition and shrink the space for civil society”.

Briefing, NewsHarri ThomasHR