Cross-party coalition of parliamentarians and human rights leaders calls on Prime Minister to act on Hong Kong
A cross-party group of MPs, peers, and international human rights leaders has written an open letter to the Prime Minister calling on him to take a stand on Hong Kong, as pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong faces the prospect of life imprisonment.
The letter has 27 signatories and includes two former Foreign Secretaries, Lord Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong; Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative Party leader, who was himself sanctioned by Beijing in 2021 for speaking out on China’s human rights record; and Sir Bill Browder, the campaigner behind the Magnitsky sanctions regime now used against human rights abusers worldwide.
It draws on the Prime Minister’s own recent words – that “it is more important than ever that Britain stands for something”. The signatories ask the Prime Minister to apply that principle to Hong Kong and the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and to hold China to account for what they describe as its abusive use of the National Security Law (NSL) to criminalise peaceful democratic activity.
It raises the case of Joshua Wong, a pro-democracy advocate who is currently in prison, awaiting sentencing – with the prospect of facing life in jail. His activism sought to hold Beijing to the “One Country, Two Systems” framework agreed between the UK and China in 1997.
The letter also points to the effects of the NSL in Britain. Two men were convicted at the Old Bailey this year of spying on Hong Kong dissidents here, reportedly also monitoring British parliamentarians. Hong Kongers settled in the UK have bounties on their heads. Police are investigating footage appearing to show Chinese embassy security in London brandishing banned electroshock weapons at peaceful protesters.
The signatories declare that the UK has a moral and diplomatic responsibility, arising from the 1997 handover and the Joint Declaration, and calls on the Government to summon the Chinese Ambassador to raise Joshua Wong’s case, and that of others imprisoned for standing up for democracy.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, MP for Chingford and Woodford Green and former leader of the Conservative Party, said:
“The CCP, having trashed the Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong and imposed their National Security Law over English Common Law are now arresting Hong Kong residents who only want to be governed by a democratic government in Hong Kong as agreed. Instead the CCP is arresting those calling for freedom on trumped up charges and locking them away. Such is the tragic fate of Jimmy Lai and now Joshua Wong. Sadly the British government have done next to nothing about it and instead Kow Tow to President Xi.”
Andrew Duncan, Co-Founder of the RT Weatherman Foundation, said:
“Joshua is really a proxy for what’s good about British values – keeping our word. Back in 1984, an agreement was made that would allow fifty years of autonomy for Hong Kong: one country, two systems. Joshua objected only when that promise stopped being kept. He hasn’t done anything wrong. He has merely tried to uphold what he was told he was allowed to do. He has already served six years. Enough is enough.”
Benedict Rogers, Co-founder and Chair of Hong Kong Watch and Senior Director of Fortify Rights, said:
“Joshua Wong is one of the most courageous and inspiring people I have ever had the privilege of meeting. From a young age, in his early teens, he recognised the value of freedom and devoted his life to defending it. As a consequence he has spent most of his twenties in prison, and faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars if the international community, and particularly the UK, does not act to press for his release. The UK has a special responsibility, given our history with Hong Kong and as a signatory to the Sino British Joint Declaration which China has completely trashed, and so the Prime Minister must make securing Joshua’s freedom a priority.”
FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER
Dear Prime Minister,
This week, you said “it is more important than ever that Britain stands for something.” The Foreign Secretary went further: that governments “have to make our own decisions about legality, values” and act on them.
We agree. We are asking you to apply that principle to Hong Kong and the Joint Declaration, and hold China to account for its abusive use of the National Security Law, criminalising peaceful democratic activity.
Joshua Wong has been a pro-democracy advocate since he was a child. At 15 he founded a movement to resist Beijing’s education law and went on to become the face of the Umbrella Movement. His work always sought to hold Beijing to the 1997 agreement, “One Country, Two Systems”, agreed between the UK and China. But in 2020 he was arrested and detained. Now, like British citizen Jimmy Lai, he faces the prospect of life in prison.
This is not a distant problem. Two men were convicted at the Old Bailey this year for spying on Hong Kong dissidents in Britain, reportedly also monitoring British parliamentarians. Police are investigating footage appearing to show Chinese embassy security in London brandishing banned electroshock weapons at peaceful protesters. Hong Kongers settled in the UK have bounties on their heads. China’s National Security Law is felt on the streets of Britain.
The UK has a moral and diplomatic responsibility, arising from the 1997 handover and the Joint Declaration, to speak out for those who stood up for the treaty it guaranteed. The UK Government has already found China in breach of the treaty. In December, the last Foreign Secretary told the Commons plainly: “China breached the Joint Declaration by imposing its National Security Law on the city.”
It is time that you called the Chinese Ambassador to raise Joshua’s case and that of the others imprisoned for standing up for democracy.
Britain signed the Joint Declaration and guaranteed Hong Kong’s freedoms for fifty years. Joshua Wong only ever asked his government to keep its word. We are asking ours to keep it too.
SIGNATORIES
Lord Alton of Liverpool
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
Bob Blackman CBE MP
Sir Bill Browder KCMG
The Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP
Mark Clifford, President, The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation
Graeme Downie MP
Andrew Duncan, Co-Founder, RT Weatherman Foundation
The Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP
Fortify Rights
The Rt Hon the Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee DBE
The Rt Hon Sir Jeremy Hunt MP, former Foreign Secretary
Jamie Fly, CEO, Freedom House
Hong Kong Watch
Alicia Kearns MP, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Chair of the APPG on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws KC, Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
Tim Loughton, former Member of Parliament and current Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission
The Rt Hon Sir Andrew Mitchell KCMG MP
Meaghan Mobbs, President RT Weatherman Foundation
Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, Chair of the Uyghur Tribunal and China Tribunal
James Naish MP
The Rt Hon the Lord Patten of Barnes KG CH
The Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG KC
Benedict Rogers, Co-founder and Chair of Hong Kong Watch and Senior Director of Fortify Rights
Jemimah Steinfeld, Chief Executive, Index on Censorship
The Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary
Bess Weatherman, Co-Founder, RT Weatherman Foundation
-ENDS-
NOTES TO EDITORS
The full letter with the most up-to-date list of signatories will be published on the Hong Kong Watch website on Monday 14 September.
Writing in the Guardian, the Prime Minister said that “It is more important than ever that Britain stands for something.”
Joshua Wong faces a second national security charge – conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment – added to a sentence he is already serving for conspiracy to commit subversion in connection with an unofficial primary election. He turns 30 on 13 October.
In June 2026, two men were convicted at the Old Bailey under the National Security Act 2023 for spying on exiled Hong Kong dissidents in Britain on behalf of Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.
The Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in 1984 and registered with the United Nations, guaranteeing Hong Kong’s freedoms for fifty years following the 1997 handover.
Andrew Duncan, Benedict Rogers and Sir Iain Duncan Smith are available for interview. Please contact Anna or Lucinda below.
For media enquiries or interview requests, contact: Anna Wallace / anna@wallaceknight.co.uk / + 44 7854 111497 or Lucinda Knight / lucinda@wallaceknight.co.uk / +44 7771 715541
Photo: Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons