STATEMENT:
CFHK commends the 137 UK parliamentarians for their efforts to highlight the gross human rights violations committed by the Chinese state
CFHK commends the 137 UK parliamentarians for their efforts to highlight the gross human rights violations committed by the Chinese state
19 October 2021
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) commends the 137 British MPs who this week have called for Parliament’s pension fund to disinvest from Chinese companies accused of complicity in gross human rights violations or institutions linked to the Chinese state. The letter to the fund’s trustees follows research by Hong Kong Watch. The signatories include Lisa Nandy, the shadow Foreign Secretary and former Conservative cabinet ministers Dr Liam Fox, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, and Norman Tebbit.
The letter states: “We urge the trustees of the fund to urgently review our pension investments in China and ensure the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund is not invested in companies or institutions complicit in gross human rights violations or institutions linked to the Chinese state”. The letter highlighted how the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund has investments in two of China’s largest technology companies, Alibaba and Tencent, through the Blackrock Emerging Markets fund. It notes that both companies “regularly collaborate with the Chinese state in maintaining internet censorship through the ‘Great Firewall’ and have provided the Government with surveillance patents for software which has been put to use against the Uyghurs.”
The full letter can be found here.
Mark Clifford, President of CFHK said:
“CFHK applauds the UK parliamentarians for their staunch support of Hong Kong’s people and other groups subjected to gross human rights violations at the hands of the Chinese state. They set an example all democratically elected representatives should seek to emulate.
“Unfortunately, this contrasts with the unsettling news this morning that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested China will continue to play a “gigantic part” in the UK economy for years to come, despite ongoing differences over human rights and Hong Kong. We would strongly encourage the UK Government to heed the words of parliamentarians on this fundamental issue.”
About CFHK
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong presses for political and economic consequences for China’s failure to keep its promises to respect Hong Kong’s freedoms; supports the rule of law, freedom of expression, and the release of political prisoners; and urges the business community to stand against China’s assault on freedom and the danger it poses to Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center. Hong Kong’s fate is linked to the preservation of freedom, democracy, and international law in the region and around the world.
For more information, please contact:
E: media@thecfhk.org
www.thecfhk.org
@thecfhk
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) commends the 137 British MPs who this week have called for Parliament’s pension fund to disinvest from Chinese companies accused of complicity in gross human rights violations or institutions linked to the Chinese state. The letter to the fund’s trustees follows research by Hong Kong Watch. The signatories include Lisa Nandy, the shadow Foreign Secretary and former Conservative cabinet ministers Dr Liam Fox, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, and Norman Tebbit.
The letter states: “We urge the trustees of the fund to urgently review our pension investments in China and ensure the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund is not invested in companies or institutions complicit in gross human rights violations or institutions linked to the Chinese state”. The letter highlighted how the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund has investments in two of China’s largest technology companies, Alibaba and Tencent, through the Blackrock Emerging Markets fund. It notes that both companies “regularly collaborate with the Chinese state in maintaining internet censorship through the ‘Great Firewall’ and have provided the Government with surveillance patents for software which has been put to use against the Uyghurs.”
The full letter can be found here.
Mark Clifford, President of CFHK said:
“CFHK applauds the UK parliamentarians for their staunch support of Hong Kong’s people and other groups subjected to gross human rights violations at the hands of the Chinese state. They set an example all democratically elected representatives should seek to emulate.
“Unfortunately, this contrasts with the unsettling news this morning that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested China will continue to play a “gigantic part” in the UK economy for years to come, despite ongoing differences over human rights and Hong Kong. We would strongly encourage the UK Government to heed the words of parliamentarians on this fundamental issue.”
About CFHK
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong presses for political and economic consequences for China’s failure to keep its promises to respect Hong Kong’s freedoms; supports the rule of law, freedom of expression, and the release of political prisoners; and urges the business community to stand against China’s assault on freedom and the danger it poses to Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center. Hong Kong’s fate is linked to the preservation of freedom, democracy, and international law in the region and around the world.
For more information, please contact:
E: media@thecfhk.org
www.thecfhk.org
@thecfhk