Exiled Hong Kong activists write to Foreign Secretary on UK sanctions policy

Today, 10 exiled Hong Kong activists from the UK, US and Australia wrote to the Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon David Lammy MP, to urge the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to introduce sanctions on Hong Kong officials in response to escalating incidents of transnational repression on UK soil. 

The letter follows the US State Department’s announcement on Monday of a fresh round of sanctions on six Hong Kong officials, including the Secretary for Justice Paul Ting-Kwok Lam. The State Department made it clear that these sanctions actions were in response to the extraterritorial use of Hong Kong’s national security laws to intimidate, silence, and harass exiled pro-democracy activists.

In recent months, activists in the UK have experienced intimidation and harassment by the Hong Kong government. To date, the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) has announced HKD 1 million (£100,000) bounties on 19 activists, including several living in the UK. Two activists in the UK, Tony Chung and Carmen Lau have been further targeted with threatening letters and ‘wanted’ posters distributed to houses around their neighbourhoods. These posters offered a HKD 1 million reward for information that led to the arrest of the individuals in question.

Despite these deplorable acts of transnational repression, and the Hong Kong government’s continued human rights violations within Hong Kong in contravention of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the UK government has yet to sanction any Hong Kong officials. 

You can read the letter to the Foreign Secretary here.

Finn Lau, Hong Kong Watch Adviser and bountied activists, commented:

“Since 2020, when most pro-democracy voices first had to flee Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government has only grown bolder in its pursuit of exiled activists. In recent months, this has escalated to distributing threatening ‘wanted’ posters on UK streets. I do not want to imagine what the next escalation will be. 

Now is the time for the UK government to show resolve and demonstrate that these acts of transnational repression will not go ignored nor unpunished. Only with action can we stop escalating threats against activists.”

十名流亡社運人士聯署致函英國外相  促制裁港官回應跨國鎮壓

今天，十名流亡至英國、美國和澳洲的香港社運人士聯署致函英國外交大臣林德偉（David Lammy），促請外交、聯邦及發展事務部向香港官員實施制裁，以回應在英國境內日漸升級的跨國鎮壓。

星期一，美國國務院宣布對六名香港官員實施新一輪制裁，包括律政司司長林定國。國務院清楚強調制裁是基於港府利用香港國安法的域外效力向流亡民主活動人士進行恐嚇、滅聲和騷擾。

近幾個月來，身處英國的社運人士亦遭受了香港政府的恐嚇和騷擾。至今，香港警務處已經以100萬港元（10萬英鎊）懸紅通緝19名社運人士，其中包括數名居英港人。當中，有人針對鍾翰林和劉珈汶向其住址周圍鄰居發放匿名信件和通緝海報。這些海報指如任何人能提供消息導致兩人被捕，便能獲得100萬港元懸紅賞金。

雖然這些令人髮指的跨國鎮壓行為正發生在眼前，而港府亦繼續在香港境內侵犯人權，違反1984年簽訂的《中英聯合聲明》，但英國政府尚未對任何香港官員實施制裁。

你可在此處閱覽致外交大臣的聯署信。

香港監察顧問Finn Lau表示：

「自2020年大量民主派人士被迫逃離香港以來，香港政府對流亡社運人士的打壓越趨高調。近幾個月來，他們的行動升級至在英國街頭發放通緝海報作出威脅。我不希望猜想下一次升級會是甚麼。

現在是英國政府展現決心的時候。他們必須證明這些跨國鎮壓行為不會被忽視，作惡者亦不能逃避懲罰。只有以實質行動回應，我們才能阻止針對社運人士的威脅再次升級。」