Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Saturday, Dec 07, 2024

Forty US senators join push for tougher stance over China's treatment of Hong Kong

Forty US senators join push for tougher stance over China's treatment of Hong Kong

Forty of the 100 U.S. senators co-sponsored a resolution on Wednesday urging a strong U.S. government response to any Chinese efforts to clamp down on dissent in Hong Kong, including the use of sanctions and other tools.
The measure backed by the 40 Democrats and Republicans, and seen by Reuters before its release, comes as members of the U.S. Congress urge President Joe Biden's administration to take a harder line in dealings with a rising China over a wide range of issues.

The resolution is non-binding, but is intended to convey a strong sense that lawmakers are closely watching events in China and will respond.

China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 outlawing acts including subversion with up to life in prison.

The law has been criticized by some Western governments as a tool to crush dissent, but the Chinese and Hong Kong governments say it has restored stability to the city after protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019.

"This resolution calls for the release of all wrongfully-accused defendants and encourages the U.S. Government and democratic partners to use all tools available to hold Beijing and the Hong Kong government accountable," said Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement.

"I look forward to securing this bipartisan resolution's swift passage as we continue our efforts to enhance every aspect of U.S. policy toward China," Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, the committee's chairman, said in a statement.

Among other things, the resolution condemns the security law, supports Hong Kongers "as they fight to exercise fundamental rights and freedoms" and condemns the imposition of "false and politically-motivated charges" and the jailing of Jimmy Lai, a jailed pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon and founder of the now shut pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

Separately, members of the international legal team for Jimmy Lai and his son, Sebastien Lai, addressed a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to raise a concern about Lai's case.

The team highlighted the abuse of national security and counter-terrorism laws to criminalize journalism.

"I call on the United Nations experts and the international community, all those who treasure fundamental rights and freedoms, to call out Hong Kong's abuse of the law to persecute my father and his colleagues, and others for exercising their rights to free speech and a free press," Sebastian Lai said.

He added that it is time for the UN to condemn those actions and "do everything in its power" to secure his father's release.

The SAR government on Wednesday "strongly disapproved and firmly opposed" the acts of the legal team for Lai to "scandalise the Hong Kong National Security Law and the judicial system" of the city.

It added that the team abused the United Nations mechanisms by soliciting the Human Rights Council to interfere in the judicial proceedings of Lai's case concerning the NSL.

"The HKSAR government will never tolerate, and strongly deplores, any form of interference by anyone with the judicial proceedings of the HKSAR," the statement said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×