MPs call for sanctions on Hong Kong officials and highlight the trial of Jimmy Lai in UK House of Commons debate

British Members of Parliament in the House of Commons held a Westminster Hall debate on the future of democracy in Hong Kong today, initiated by Tim Loughton MP (Conservative), with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan responding. Hong Kong Watch patrons Catherine West MP (Shadow Minister), Alistair Carmichael MP (Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong) and Fiona Bruce MP (the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on freedom of religion or belief) also contributed to the debate, along with Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP (Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China), Paul Scully MP, Jim Shannon MP, Janet Daby MP, Brendan O’Hara MP and Layla Moran MP.

MPs urged the UK government to introduce Magnitsky-style sanctions against Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee and other officials in Beijing and Hong Kong responsible for dismantling Hong Kong’s freedoms and perpetrating serious human rights violations, in a flagrant breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. 

Tim Loughton MP called on the government to once again consider sanctions, noting: 

“We have sanctioned people from across the world, most notably Russia … All of the crimes against … the international rule of law, freedom, liberty and democracy are being waged in Hong Kong as we speak, yet not a single person in the Chinese Government in Hong Kong has been subject to any sanction by the Government … There is no excuse for us not taking an equally robust stance against the Chinese Communist Party Government if we share those values and ideals of liberty, democracy and freedom that those brave people in Hong Kong have had to stand up for in the most outrageous of circumstances.”

Mr Loughton added:

“The future of human rights in Hong Kong is not bright. We have a duty not just to point that out, but to make it clear to China that if they do not get their act together there will be consequences, and the British Government will make sure that they are made to pay and are called out for this outrageous intimidation of the citizens of Hong Kong and their flouting of the international legal obligations that we all take for granted.”

The debate also highlighted the current trial of 76 year-old Hong Kong entrepreneur, media proprietor and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, and the fact that at least four British citizens have been named as either ‘co-conspirators’ or ‘collaborators’ in the case. 

Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP expressed concern that Luke de Pulford, Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), and Bill Browder, who leads the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, have been named as ‘co-conspirators’, and that Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chief Executive Benedict Rogers and the former British Consul-General to Hong Kong Andrew Heyn have also been named in court proceedings during the trial, and pressed the UK government to clarify whether, should Interpol come under pressure by the Chinese government to arrange the extradition of these or other individuals, the British government would refuse to cooperate in this matter. 

The debate follows a letter to the Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron on 4 January by Hong Kong Watch’s patrons, including former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind KC, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws KC, Lord Alton of Liverpool, Sarah Champion MP, Alistair Carmichael MP and Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, on the naming of British nationals in the trial of Jimmy Lai. The letter, which was cited in the debate, urged the UK Government to implement Magnitsky-style sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, including asset freezes and a travel ban, in response to the Hong Kong Government’s targeting of human rights activists and British citizens Benedict Rogers, Luke de Pulford, and Bill Browder.

FCDO Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who met earlier today with Luke de Pulford, Bill Browder and Benedict Rogers, assured Sir Iain Duncan Smith that the UK government would take any misuse of Interpol “very seriously”, and pointed out that Article 3 of Interpol’s constitution forbids the organisation from taking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial character. She also referred to the naming of British citizens in the Jimmy Lai trial as “unacceptable”. On sanctions, the Minister stated that the FCDO continues to consider sanctions on Hong Kong officials under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime, though she would not speculate about future designations. 

MPs also called for retired British judges still serving in Hong Kong to withdraw, and for pressure to be put on HSBC and other providers of the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension scheme to allow Hong Kongers holding British National Overseas (BNO) passports and visas to withdraw pension savings when they leave Hong Kong. 

The debate also addressed the increasing threat to the freedom of religion or belief in Hong Kong, with Fiona Bruce MP, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on freedom of religion or belief, citing Hong Kong Watch’s latest report Sell Out My Soul: The Impending Threats to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Hong Kong, as well as the severe violations of freedom of expression, including press freedom, and freedom of association and assembly in Hong Kong.

The debate occurred on the same day that China’s human rights record was reviewed by other UN Member States at the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva. Hong Kong Watch made three joint submissions to the UN UPR of the People’s Republic of China, focusing on human rights violations related to the 2019 pro-democracy protests, the Beijing-imposed National Security Law, and political prisoners, including Jimmy Lai. Recommendations specific to Hong Kong were made by 18 member states, and the UK called in its intervention for the repeal of the National Security Law and an end to the prosecution of all cases including that of Jimmy Lai. The full submissions are available here. 

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

“At the United Nations in Geneva this morning, and in the British Parliament in Westminster this afternoon, the appalling human rights record of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime in Beijing and their quislings in Hong Kong has been once again presented clearly and comprehensively for the world to see. 

We welcome the recommendations made by member states at the United Nations in the Universal Periodic Review this morning, including by the United Kingdom, and we welcome the passionate speeches made by Members of Parliament this afternoon. The case for action has been made and the time for action is now.

In between the UPR and the debate in Parliament, I had the opportunity to meet privately with the Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, together with my colleagues and friends Luke de Pulford and Bill Browder, and we had a constructive discussion. I welcome the fact that she took time to meet us and to listen to our perspectives and recommendations. We pressed the Minister for answers, as did MPs in the debate this afternoon, and we await the government’s response. 

Stronger rhetoric and increased attention to human rights in Hong Kong in general and Jimmy Lai’s trial in particular – which we have seen from the British government in recent months – is very welcome. But rhetoric and attention alone will not deliver results. We need concrete actions. I hope the Minister will respond positively to the recommendations for action which we made in our meeting with her and which Members of Parliament set out in today’s debate.”

英國下議院就香港人權未來辯論 議員呼籲制裁香港官員 要求關注黎智英案

英國國會議員今天在下議院就香港人權的未來展開西敏大廳辯論。這場辯論由保守黨議員Tim Loughton MP發起，外交、聯邦及發展事務部印太事務國務大臣卓雅敏（Anne-Marie Trevelyan）回應。香港監察贊助人Catherine West MP（影子亞太事務國務大臣）、甘文康（Alistair Carmichael MP，英國國會跨黨派香港小組主席）、Fiona Bruce MP（英國首相宗教或信仰自由特使）亦有參與辯論。其他參與議員有施志安爵士（Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP，對華政策跨國議會聯盟聯席主席）、Paul Scully MP、Jim Shannon MP、Janet Daby MP、Brendan O’Hara MP和Layla Moran MP。

議員促請英國政府對香港行政長官李家超及其他中港官員施行馬格尼茨基式制裁，這些官員有份摧毀香港自由和做出嚴重侵犯人權行為，公然違反《中英聯合聲明》 。

議員亦在辯論中提請關注英國公民、76歲香港企業家、傳媒老闆、民運人士黎智英現正接受的審訊，以及至少四名英國公民被列為案件「共謀者」或「合作者」一事。

辯論舉行前，六名香港監察贊助人就香港當局在黎智英案中點名英國公民一事，於1月4日聯署致函英國外交大臣甘民樂勳爵（Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton）。辯論中有議員援引此聯署信；信函敦促英國政府因應香港政府針對身為英國公民的人權倡議人士羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）、裴倫德（Luke de Pulford）和Bill Browder，對香港特首李家超施行馬格尼茨基式制裁，包括資產凍結和旅遊禁令。

此外，議員呼籲留任香港法院的退休英國法官辭職，並向滙豐及其他強制性公積金（強積金或MPF）供應商施壓，讓持英國國民海外（BNO）護照和簽證離港的香港人能夠提取退休儲蓄。

辯論亦有處理香港宗教或信仰自由所面臨日趨嚴峻的威脅。英國首相宗教或信仰自由特使Fiona Bruce MP援引香港新報告《出賣我靈：香港宗教或信仰自由即將面臨的威脅》（Sell Out My Soul: The Impending Threats to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Hong Kong），以及嚴重侵害香港言論自由、新聞自由、結社和集會自由的行為。