Hong Kong Watch launches new report on freedom of religion or belief in Hong Kong in UK Parliament

Hong Kong Watch launched our new report on freedom of religion or belief in Hong Kong in the UK Parliament in Westminster this morning, at an event hosted by our Patron Lord Alton of Liverpool.

In the sixth and final event to promote the report, “Sell Out My Soul”: The Impending Threats to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chief Executive Benedict Rogers was joined on the panel by Pastor Roy Chan of the Good Neighbour Church England, Chung Ching Kwong, Hong Kong Campaigns Co-ordinator of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) and Julie Jones, Director of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on freedom of religion or belief. 

Lord Alton endorsed the report and spoke about the importance of freedom of religion or belief, and Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle, Co-Chair of the APPG on Hong Kong, spoke about the importance of continuing to keep a spotlight on the situation in Hong Kong among Parliamentarians and policy-makers.

The report, which was previously launched in the European Parliament in Brussels, at three think-tanks in Washington, DC and in the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa earlier this month, provides an in-depth analysis of the growing challenges to freedom of religion or belief, as defined by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in Hong Kong. This includes the impact of the draconian National Security Law on religious believers, self-censorship in sermons and other religious activities, threats to faith-based schools in the education sector, and Beijing’s campaign of ‘Sinicization’ of religion. The report serves as an early warning signal and calls on the international community to closely monitor developments in regard to freedom of religion or belief in Hong Kong.

The full report can be read here.

This project is funded by a grant from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD).

香港監察假英國國會發布香港宗教或信仰自由報告

昨天，香港監察在英國國會發布關於香港宗教或信仰自由的新報告，發布會由香港監察贊助人奧爾頓勳爵（Lord Alton of Liverpool）主持。

這是第六場，也是最後一場推廣報告《出賣我靈：香港宗教或信仰自由即將面臨的威脅》（Sell Out My Soul: The Impending Threats to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Hong Kong）的活動。香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）與英倫好鄰舍教會陳凱興傳道、對華政策跨國議會聯盟（Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China）香港及保安政策主管鄺頌晴和英國國會跨黨派國際宗教或信仰自由小組主任Julie Jones參與討論。

奧爾頓勳爵贊同報告所言，並談到宗教或信仰自由的重要性，英國國會跨黨派香港小組聯席主席本內特女男爵（Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle）則談到國會議員和政策制訂者持續關注香港局勢的重要性。

香港監察本月稍早在布魯塞爾歐洲議會、華盛頓特區三間智庫和渥太華加拿大國會發布這份報告。報告深入分析了香港宗教或信仰自由（根據《世界人權宣言》第18條所定義）所面臨日趨嚴峻的挑戰。這包括苛法《國安法》對宗教信徒的影響、講道及其他宗教活動的自我審查現象、對教育界信仰學校的威脅和北京推動宗教「中國化」的情況。報告向國際社會發出預先警告，呼籲密切關注香港宗教或信仰自由的發展。

請在此處閱讀報告全文。