Hong Kong Watch urges UK Minister to declare the first application of Article 23 as a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and call for release of Jimmy Lai during visit to Hong Kong and China

Today, UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP will visit China and Hong Kong “to further and protect British interests”. The multi-stop visit includes Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin and meetings with Chinese authorities, UK businesses, journalists, academics and civil society. 

The Minister is expected to raise human rights concerns in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. The Minister said, “In Hong Kong, I will raise concerns on the passage and implementation of national security laws as well as discussing our important trade links. In Beijing I will be clear about our right to act when China breaks its international commitments or violates human rights.”

Hong Kong Watch urges the Minister to follow through on her pledge to raise ongoing human rights violations in Hong Kong and to hold the authorities to account, particularly in regards to the recent passage of the Safeguarding National Security Bill which is implemented under ‘Article 23’ of the Basic Law. The new legislation criminalises five types of activities which the Hong Kong officials declare as ‘offences’, and contains broad provisions which criminalise the peaceful exercise of human rights and dramatically undermine due process and fair trial rights in Hong Kong. Article 23 will bring further devastating consequences for human rights and freedoms in the city, beyond the impact of the National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020. 

While in Hong Kong and Mainland China, we ask the Minister to publicly declare the first application of Article 23 as a breach of both the Sino-British Joint Declaration and international law. The Minister should also call for the repeal of both Article 23 and the National Security Law, which the UK’s latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong continues to refer to as “a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration”.

The Minister should continue to press the Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to immediately and unconditionally release British citizen Jimmy Lai. She should also publicly condemn the repeated naming of British nationals in the trial, including former British Consul General Andrew Heyn OBE, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Watch Benedict Rogers, Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Luke de Pulford, and Bill Browder, a human rights campaigner who pioneered the introduction of Magnitsky sanctions worldwide.

In the UK, the Minister should respond to the enactment of Article 23 by imposing targeted sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee for his involvement in activities which, individually and collectively, amount to a serious violation of the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment under the UK’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) should also review the status, privileges and diplomatic immunities of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London as to not provide the PRC with double representation in the UK.

Finally, the FCDO should work closely with the Home Office to offer greater protections for Hong Kongers in the UK and against transnational repression. This includes expanding the BNO visa scheme to enable the children of BNO passport holders born before 1 July 1997 with at least one BNO-status parent to apply for the visa scheme independently of their parents. In November 2022, the UK expanded the BNO scheme for those born after 1 July 1997 with at least one BNO-status parent.

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Watch, said:

“We thank the Minister and the FCDO for placing human rights concerns on the agenda during the Minister’s visit to Hong Kong and Mainland China. Business is far from usual in Hong Kong, and it is crucial that meetings with officials and business representatives highlight the ongoing and egregious human rights violations in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and other areas.

Specifically, we urge the Minister to publicly declare the first application of Article 23 as a breach of both the Sino-British Joint Declaration and international law. She must also call for the immediate and unconditional release of Jimmy Lai and condemn the naming of British nationals including myself in his trial.”

英國大臣展開中港之旅 香港監察要求呼籲廢除23條及國安法、釋放黎智英

英國印太地區大臣卓雅敏（Anne-Marie Trevelyan）今天將啟程到訪中國和香港，旨在「推進及保護英國的利益」。她將訪問香港、北京、上海和天津，並會見中港當局、英國企業、記者、學者和民間團體。

卓雅敏料將提出香港、新疆和西藏的人權問題。她表示：「在香港期間，我會提出對當局通過及實施國家安全法的憂慮，並討論英港重要的貿易連結。在北京期間，我會明確表示，當中國違背其國際承諾或侵犯人權時，我們有權採取行動。」

香港監察促請大臣信守承諾，提出香港持續發生的侵犯人權行為，並追究當局的責任，特別是就最近通過根據《基本法》第23條所制訂的《維護國家安全條例》而言。

我們要求大臣在香港和中國大陸期間，公開宣告首宗應用23條的個案違反《中英聯合聲明》和國際法。此外，大臣應呼籲廢除23條和《國家安全法》，英國最新一份《香港半年報告》再次指出《國安法》「違反《中英聯合聲明》」。

大臣應繼​​續敦促中港當局立即無條件釋放英國公民黎智英。她同時應公開譴責審訊中多次點名英國國民的行為，包括前英國駐香港及澳門總領事賀恩德（Andrew Heyn）、香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）、對華政策跨國議會聯盟（IPAC）執行總監裴倫德（Luke de Pulford）和率先在全球推動馬格尼茨基制裁的人權倡議者Bill Browder。

英國方面，大臣應根據英國的全球人權制裁制度（Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime）點名制裁香港行政長官李家超，回應23條生效。英國外交、聯邦及發展事務部亦應檢視香港駐倫敦經濟貿易辦事處的地位、特權和外交豁免權，以免中國在英國擁有雙重代表權。

最後，英國外交部應與內政部密切合作，為在英香港人提供更多保護措施，免受跨國鎮壓。這包括擴大BNO簽證計劃，讓1997年7月1日前出生、父母其中一方持有BNO身分的BNO護照持有人子女能夠獨立於父母申請簽證。