TOP NEWS
The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs published its latest Six-monthly Report on Hong Kong covering the period from July to December 2023. The Foreign Secretary describes China as being in "an ongoing state of non-compliance" with the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation welcomes the UK government’s calls to drop charges against Jimmy Lai and to repeal the National Security Law. We also welcome the report’s emphasis on the illegal crackdown on media and civil society in Hong Kong.
This week the CFHK team in London met with Labour Party MP Andrew Western, who expressed full sympathy for the situation in Hong Kong and has agreed to keep issues such as Jimmy Lai, access to the BNO visas, Confucius Institutes and Chinese funding in UK universities, top of mind when discussing Hong Kong or China. CFHK will work with Andrew Western on Parliamentary activities including questions to Ministers, debates and briefings.
Mark Sabah, Director of UK & EU, Andrew Western MP, Alyssa Fong, UK Public Affairs and Advocacy Manager
This week, the ‘Chinese Human Rights Defenders’, a coalition of human rights organisations, published a report entitled, “If I disobey, My family will Suffer”. The report highlights the collective punishment of human rights activists’ families in China and Hong Kong. Frances Hui, CFHK’s Policy and Advocacy Coordinator in the US, outlined how her family have been taken for questioning, forced to make statements and have been put under mental stress by the Hong Kong Police.
The UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee held its first evidence session to investigate China's role in multilateral organisations. Submissions were made by United Nations whistleblower Emma Reilly, Hong Kong Watch, and the Council on Geostrategy amongst others. The CFHK Foundation also made a submission and noted that Hong Kong is being used to advance the Chinese Communist Party's influence in multilateral organisations by giving China an additional vote.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida weighed in on Jimmy Lai’s trial after the naming of former Diet member Shiori Yamao as a foreign colluder. Prime Minister Kishida asserted, “Regarding the naming of Ms. Shiori Kanno as a conspirator in the Hong Kong National Security Law, we will take firm action to ensure that the freedom of speech of our country's Diet members is protected.” IPAC Executive Director, Luke de Pulford said about the Japanese Prime Minster defending Japanese citizens, “Humiliating [that] the British Government which has said nothing about two UK citizens being names alongside Shiori.”
Jimmy Lai's Trial Update
The trial of Jimmy Lai continued on April 15th with Chan Tsz-wah, a former paralegal turned prosecution witness, giving testimony against Lai amid fears of coercion. He claims that he discussed an “anti-China” strategy with Jimmy Lai in 2020.
Detailed trial updates available at: Support Jimmy Lai
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Court refused Human Rights Lawyer Chow Hang-tung and two others’ applications to challenge their convictions over refusing to comply with a data request from national security police. The judge stated that their submissions were not “reasonably arguable” and that their appeals would have “no chance of success”.
A Pro-Beijing Hong Kong lawmaker questioned the vetting process for Hong Kong film funding applications, claiming to see evidence of “soft resistance” and asking what proportion of government-funded films over the past five years conveyed "positive thinking." Joephy Chan also queried whether the authorities would prioritize "telling good Hong Kong stories" and "telling good China stories" in funding films.
Hong Kong fell out of the list of the world’s top 10 container ports last year, marking the first time in the history of container shipping that it’s failed to make the cut, according to data from Alphaliner on the world’s busiest 30 box ports. The data revealed a 14.1% drop in traffic last year, underscoring the long-term decline of what for many years was the world’s busiest container port.