Hong Kong Watch: Leading foreign policy names lay out roadmap for international responses to Hong Kong

On 4th February 2021, Hong Kong Watch hosted a webinar with leading foreign policy figures to discuss what the international response to Hong Kong ought to be.

Speakers at the webinar included Lord Owen, the former British Foreign Secretary; Yanghee Lee, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar; Baroness Kennedy QC, the Director of the International Bar Associations Human Rights Institute; and John Cushnahan, the former European Parliament Rapporteur on Hong Kong.

Lord Owen began by underlining the importance of security partnerships and NATO, he said:

"Hong Kong, by standing firm has generated supporters in the region. I am glad to say that the UK Government has cooperated fully on that, and now sees its security as being tied with the future of Southeast Asia."

He continued to underline that the D-10 ought to consider the question of rising Western investment into firms tied to the Chinese Communist Party or the People’s Liberation Army.

Yanghee Lee spoke on UN mechanisms, and said:

"If you look at the situation of Hong Kong, the UN may be able to provide redress for the victims of rights violations. I am advocating for a special procedure or a special mandate to act as a conduit for the international community.”

She underlined that the UN Secretary General could appoint a UN Special Envoy.

John Cushnahan addressed the issue of the European response to the crisis. He said:

"I would like to concentrate on what the EU should be asked to do. I am deeply disappointed by the EU's response to the crisis in Hong Kong. It has been weak and unprincipled. Unfortunately, it appears that Angela Merkel and Ursula Von Der Leyden hold responsibility for the EU's weak position on Hong Kong. They are also responsible for the EU-China Investment Agreement.

"What they were doing in signing the investment agreement with China, they said to China that they can do what they want in Hong Kong without fearing that there would be consequences from the EU."

He continued to advocate for the European Parliament to appoint a rapporteur on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Baroness Kennedy spoke of the importance of the international community applying targeted sanctions:

"We should go after the very people at the top of the system who are the contaminators of the system and the breachers of human rights."

On the issues of foreign judges presiding on the Court of Final Appeal, she said:

"A point has to come where one says - are we being collusive in something which is not standing for the rule of law? Are we adding a veneer of respectability to system which does not deserve it? That point is coming soon."

She added that the UK should seriously consider taking a case on the Joint Declaration to the International Court of Justice under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

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Click below and watch the webinar