Hong Kong Watch welcomes meeting between Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Sebastien Lai

Yesterday, Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chief Executive Benedict Rogers wrote to Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton to offer an update on the situation in Hong Kong and that of British National (Overseas) Hong Kongers as well as thanking him for agreeing to meet with Sebastien Lai, son of jailed Apple Daily founder and British citizen Jimmy Lai, as he begins his new role as Foreign Secretary.

Hong Kong Watch informed the Foreign Secretary that as of September 2023, 191,000 Hong Kongers have applied for the BNO visa in the two-and-a-half years since its introduction as the Beijing-imposed National Security Law in Hong Kong continues to destroy civil liberties in the once-thriving international financial centre. The Home Office Impact Assessment on the BNO visa policy published in October 2020 estimated 258,000 to 322,400 people from Hong Kong will arrive over the first five years of the scheme.

Hong Kong Watch also shared some of the unique challenges faced by Hong Kongers as they assimilate into British society, such as security issues around the renewal of HKSAR passports, the ineligibility of BNOs to pay home fees at UK universities, and the ongoing refusal of UK-headquartered trustees of Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scheme, such as HSBC, to allow BNO Hong Kongers access to over £2 billion worth of pensions savings following a unilateral move by Beijing to no longer recognise the BNO passport as an official travel document.

On Jimmy Lai’s 76th birthday this past Friday, Hong Kong Watch Patrons including Lord Chris Patten, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Lord David Alton, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Alistair Carmichael MP and Sarah Champion MP wrote a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Foreign Secretary, asking them to respond to meeting requests from Sebastien Lai. Hong Kong Watch thanks the Foreign Secretary for agreeing to meet with Sebastien Lai this week as he visits the UK ahead of his father’s expected national security trial on 18 December 2023. We hope the Prime Minister will do the same.

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Watch, said:

“Hong Kong Watch looks forward to working with Lord Cameron and his team on matters concerning Hong Kong and China during his time in office. Given that 140,000 Hong Kongers will be eligible voters in the next UK general election and with Britain’s international commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration in mind, it is important that the UK government continues to monitor and respond to developments in Hong Kong.

“We call on the British government to hold the Hong Kong authorities to account for their ongoing destruction of human rights by issuing targeted sanctions against Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee to protect Hong Kongers around the world. We also welcome this week’s expected meeting between the Foreign Secretary and Sebastien Lai, and hope this signals a greater willingness from British government officials to publicly recognise and call for the release of British citizen Jimmy Lai.”

香港監察歡迎英外相甘民樂同意會見黎智英兒子黎崇恩 繼續促請英政府公開呼籲釋放黎智英

香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）昨天去信英國新任外交大臣甘民樂勳爵（Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton），告知他香港和英國國民（海外）香港人的最新情況，並感謝他同意會見黎崇恩，即現正在囚的《蘋果日報》創辦人、英國公民黎智英的兒子。

上星期五是黎智英76歲生日，香港監察贊助人，包括彭定康勳爵（Lord Patten of Barnes）、聶偉敬爵士（Sir Malcolm Rifkind）、奧爾頓勳爵（Lord Alton of Liverpool）、肯尼迪女男爵（Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws）、尼斯爵士（Sir Geoffrey Nice）、國會議員Fiona Bruce、Sarah Champion和Alistair Carmichael，當日致函英國首相辛偉誠（Rishi Sunak）和外相，要求他們回應黎崇恩的會面請求。黎崇恩本星期到訪英國，而他父親的國家安全案件預計將於2023年12月18日開審。香港監察感謝外相同意此前與他會面，並希望首相也能這樣做。

香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯表示：

「香港監察期待在甘民樂勳爵出任外相期間與他及團隊就香港和中國事務合作。有見14萬香港人將符合資格在下屆英國大選投票，且考慮到英國在《中英聯合聲明》下的國際承諾，英國政府必須繼續監察並回應香港局勢發展。

我們呼籲英國政府制裁香港行政長官李家超，追究香港當局持續破壞人權的責任，從而保護世界各地的香港人。我們亦歡迎外相預期本星期與黎崇恩會面，希望此舉表明英國政府官員更願意公開承認並呼籲釋放英國公民黎智英。」