Prime US diplomat calls on worldwide neighborhood to oppose ‘transnational repression’.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has condemned Hong Kong authorities for putting bounties on 5 pro-democracy activists primarily based abroad, together with a US citizen, calling on the worldwide neighborhood to oppose “transnational repression”.
Blinken stated on Friday that the bounties of 1 million Hong Kong {dollars} ($128,000) for data resulting in the activists’ arrest confirmed Hong Kong authorities’ disregard for worldwide norms and human rights.
“We strongly oppose any efforts to intimidate and silence individuals who choose to make the United States their home and will not waver in standing up for those who are targeted simply for exercising their human rights,” Blinken stated in a press release.
“We encourage the international community to join us in condemning this act of transnational repression. The United States remains committed to defending the rights and freedoms of all people and calls on the PRC to act in a manner consistent with its international commitments and legal obligations,” the highest US diplomat added, referring to the acronym of China’s official title, the Individuals’s Republic of China.
United Kingdom Overseas Secretary David Cameron earlier condemned Hong Kong authorities’ transfer as a “threat to our democracy and fundamental human rights”.
Hong Kong authorities on Thursday introduced the rewards for details about Joey Siu, Simon Cheng, Frances Hui, Johnny Fok and Tony Choi, all of whom are needed underneath the Chinese language-ruled territory’s draconian nationwide safety regulation, which claims jurisdiction over your complete planet.
Hong Kong police Chief Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah stated the 5 had been suspected of incitement to secession, incitement to subversion, international collusion and had “betrayed their own country and betrayed Hong Kong”.
The 5 have advocated for democracy and civil liberties in Hong Kong from overseas following a sweeping crackdown on the town that has criminalised virtually all opposition to Beijing.
Siu holds US citizenship, and Hui was granted asylum within the US in 2021.
Cheng, who was granted asylum by the British authorities in 2020, Fok and Choi all stay within the UK.
In April, Hong Kong authorities introduced bounties for data resulting in the arrest of eight different overseas-based Hong Kong activists, together with former lawmaker Ted Hui.
Siu stated on X she would “never be silenced” and would “never back down”.
Hui stated her advocacy for democracy and freedom “has not and will not stop”, whereas Cheng described the costs in opposition to him as an “honour”.
Amnesty Worldwide stated on Thursday that the bounties had been “confirmation that the Hong Kong authorities’ systematic dismantling of human rights has officially gone global”.
China’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs on Friday hit again at criticism of the bounties, accusing Western governments of unveiling their “malicious intentions in messing up Hong Kong”.
About 300 individuals have been arrested underneath Hong Kong’s nationwide safety regulation, which has drastically curtailed rights and freedoms which might be supposed to differentiate the town from the Chinese language mainland underneath an association often known as “one country, two systems”.
These arrested embrace Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the founding father of the defunct Apple Day by day newspaper, who is about to go on trial from Monday on fees of colluding with international forces.
