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The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation launched a video to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In Hong Kong, the police detained multiple pro-democracy activists for peacefully remembering. The United Nations said it was “alarmed” by the numerous detentions in Hong Kong related to the Tiananmen Square Massacre anniversary, calling for the release of the detained individuals. Mark Sabah, the UK and EU Director for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, told Sky News, “In mainland China the Tiananmen Square Massacre still doesn’t exist and they’re trying to do the same now in Hong Kong. A lamp post was blocked off by police because it had the number 8964: 1989, June 4th. A lamp post.”
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation attended the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and Chinese Communist Party’s event to remember the Tiananmen Square Massacre with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other Members of Congress. We were also honoured to join hundreds of individuals at a remembrance vigil in London.
The Hong Kong government filed a court injunction to ban ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ including 32 versions of the song in foreign languages, making it known that the “freedom of speech is not absolute” in the city-state. The authorities’ call to blacklist the song backfired, as versions of the pro-democracy anthem quickly filled all of the top 10 slots on Apple’s iTunes charts in Hong Kong. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR), Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and James McGovern (D-MA) sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to override his plan to invite Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in San Francisco in November. Frances Hui, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, told Reuters, “Allowing Lee to visit the U.S. would send the wrong signal to Chinese officials and rights abusers around the world. It sends the terrible message that committing abuses comes at little or no cost.” Ms Hui also spoke with Radio Free Asia Cantonese and Photon Media about why John Lee does not deserve a seat at the table with the leaders of APEC. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China wrote a letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the start of his two-day trip to the US, urging him to publicly prioritise the release of British citizen Jimmy Lai and other political prisoners in Hong Kong. Mark Clifford, President of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said, “This is British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s golden opportunity to join US officials to champion the cause of British citizen Jimmy Lai and other political prisoners in Hong Kong.” Jimmy Lai filed an appeal against the High Court of Hong Kong’s rejection of his prior challenge of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security’s decision to effectively block his lawyer of choice. Mark Clifford said, “We will continue to support Jimmy Lai’s efforts to challenge the baseless decisions of the Hong Kong authorities.” The long arm of the Hong Kong government stretched more than 8,000 miles to intimidate a church in Guildford that was scheduled to host an event on the impact of injustice Hong Kong. Simon Cheng, Founder of Hongkongers in Britain and Issac Cheng, Director of Kongtinue wrote in the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation blog, saying, “Events that include a children’s book about sheep and wolves with a focus on civic education should be treated with respect and without hindrance.”
Megan Khoo, Communications Manager for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, told NTD News about the pernicious effects of a 2018 tax agreement between Britain and China/Hong Kong: “Whether knowingly or unknowingly the British government is able to share the sensitive tax information [of Hong Kong and Chinese people abroad] – this is addresses, bank account information, how much money they have – automatically with the Chinese regime”.
Hong Kong
A panel of Hong Kong judges overturned the conviction against Bao Choy, an award-winning journalist who investigated how the Hong Kong police responded to a mob attack in 2019.
The bank accounts of members from the League of Social Democrats, one of the last-standing pro-democracy political parties in Hong Kong, have been shut by HSBC, Bank of China and Hang Seng Bank.
A former ByteDance employee revealed that Chinese Communist Party members accessed TikTok data including communication data, SIM card IDs and IP addresses of Hong Kong human rights activists in 2018.
UK-China Relations
The UK Cabinet Office announced that it will remove Chinese-made surveillance equipment including cameras from Hikvision and Dahua from sensitive government sites throughout Britain.
British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said that “any functions related to Chinese state ‘police service stations’ in the UK are unacceptable and that they must not operate in any form.” The Chinese embassy in London confirmed that all such stations have been permanently closed.
US-China Relations
Senator Marco Rubio introduced legislation that would ensure the Department of Defense does not fund universities that continue to host Chinese Confucius Institutes.
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