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Two men were arrested under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly spying for China in the British Parliament. Speaking to The Times Radio, The Scotsman,The Guardian, NTD News and Now News, Mark Sabah, UK and EU Director of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHK Foundation), emphasised the need to protect the sensitive data of Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghur and other Chinese dissidents as well as to provide secure channels for them to express their views and meet with politicians in Britian.
The British government threatened to cut funding from a group of Hongkongers who simply desired to provide a safe space for Hongkongers to share the struggles they have faced in the transition from Hong Kong to Britain. Mark Sabah told The Telegraph, “Attempts by UK government officials at the national or local levels to prevent Hongkongers from congregating to discuss issues that affect them in the UK is a step in the wrong direction for the freedoms of speech and assembly.”
The Hong Kong national security police raided the homes and detained the parents-in-law and brother-in-law of Ted Hui, one of eight exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activists with a HK$1 million bounty for his arrest. Mark Clifford, President of the CFHK Foundation, said, “The Australian government should coordinate with the U.S. and U.K. governments to immediately and publicly respond to the targeting of the bounty families.”
Chakra Ip, Executive Director of the 29 Principles, authored this week’s 'Flame of Freedom' blog, urging human rights activists to engage with the United Nations and other international bodies to ensure that Hongkongers and other Chinese dissidents like Hong Kong 12 lawyer Lu Siwei are not punished by the Chinese Communist Party at home or abroad.
Hong Kong
A Hong Kong court denied bail to a man accused of importing copies of a children’s book about sheep and wolves that is considered seditious by the Hong Kong authorities.
Hong Kong busker Oliver Ma was arrested and detained for several hours in Macau. Police questioned Ma about whether he sang Glory to Hong Kong or other protest anthems in Macau. He has now been deported to Hong Kong and banned from Macau.
A doctoral student from mainland China was sentenced to six months in Hong Kong prison after she planned to display a banner featuring Hong Kong’s Pillar of Shame sculpture that commemorates the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
UK-China Relations
King’s College London released a report underscoring the need for the U.K. government to provide British universities with greater guidance on China engagement in a higher education environment that remains highly dependent on Chinese students.
Hong Kong Watch published a paper arguing that the Hong Kong government is no longer fit to own the London Metal Exchange given their continued abuses under the National Security Law in Hong Kong.
The British Parliament passed a law that will ban Chinese surveillance technology from sensitive sites throughout the U.K. including government buildings and military bases.
US-China Relations
During a Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) hearing on Chinese transnational repression, former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Jay Clayton called for U.S. public companies to detail their companies’ exposure to China.
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