In the first three months of the new Trump administration, there is much that causes me anguish. The cuts to democracy promotion and overseas aid, the approach to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, the insults to some of the United States’ closest allies and the imposition of global tariffs are deeply concerning.
But there are two recent moves that I strongly applaud.
The first is the decision by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to sanction Thai officials for allowing the forced repatriation of dozens of Uyghur refugees from Thailand to Xinjiang, where they face certain incarceration, torture and abuse.
The second is Rubio’s decision to sanction six senior Hong Kong officials. These include Hong Kong’s justice secretary and key figures in the police force and the National Security Law apparatus.
The first is welcome because it sends a message that violating the internationally-respected norm of non-refoulement for refugees is unacceptable.
The second is to be applauded because it signals that there are consequences for breaking promises made in an international treaty, dismantling basic freedoms, and destroying the rule of law.
Prior to the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, Beijing signed a treaty with the United Kingdom – the Sino-British Joint Declaration – in which it promised to uphold Hong Kong’s freedoms, the rule of law, and a high degree of autonomy for at least the first 50 years from the handover. Less than halfway through that period, Beijing reneged on its promise.
Over the past five years, Hong Kong has been transformed from one of the world’s freest and most open cities into one of Asia’s most repressive police states. The imposition of the draconian National Security Law in 2020 – followed by a new and even more repressive domestic security law last year – shut down freedom of expression, assembly and association and compromised academic and religious freedom.
Over 1,000 political prisoners are in jail in Hong Kong, including former elected legislators, journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Barrister Chow Hang-tung is in prison for organizing a vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre, student activist Joshua Wong remains behind bars for leading peaceful protests, and 47 former pro-democracy elected legislators and activists were arrested for holding a primary election to choose their candidates for what should have been the 2020 legislative elections. While two were acquitted, 45 received prison sentences last year. Those elections, in the end, were postponed until December 2021, with the pro-democracy camp expelled from the legislature and disqualified from contesting. New rules allowed only pro-Beijing candidates to run, and Hong Kong’s limited democracy was snuffed out.
77-year-old entrepreneur and British citizen Jimmy Lai has already been in jail for over 1,550 days, since December 2020, and his trial under the National Security Law has still not concluded. He faces a minimum sentence of 10 years and could die in jail. He has already served a 13-month sentence simply for lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil to mark the Tiananmen Square massacre, and a 14-month sentence for participating in a peaceful protest.
Beijing ensured that almost all independent media outlets have been shut down. The authorities have undermined the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, while also removing books deemed to be politically sensitive from public libraries and bookshops. Social media posts are monitored. In Hong Kong today, wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan could land you in jail.
The crackdown also threatens freedom beyond Hong Kong’s borders. Transnational repression is an increasingly grave concern, impacting dissidents abroad, diaspora communities, and foreign critics.
At least 19 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who fled Hong Kong have been threatened with arrest warrants and bounties of HK$1 million (US$129,000), including a 19-year-old student, Chloe Cheung.
Former pro-democracy legislator Ted Hui, now living in Australia, has been targeted with threatening letters, as has lawyer Kevin Yam.
Letters have also been sent to the neighbors of former district councillor Carmen Lau and Tony Chung in the United Kingdom, offering HK$1 million to provide information about them or hand them over to the Chinese embassy.
In October 2022, Chinese diplomats attacked peaceful Hong Kong protesters outside the Chinese consulate in Manchester, dragging one demonstrator into the consulate’s grounds to assault him.
Even I have received numerous threating letters at my home address, and so have my neighbors and my mother. My mother was told by Beijing to tell me to “shut up” – to which her response was to laugh that she had given up trying that years ago. In 2022, the Hong Kong police threatened me with a prison sentence.
These attempts to intimidate me into silence failed. But for Hong Kong exiles or other diaspora communities that have families back home, it is no laughing matter. The relatives of several exiled Hong Kong activists have been called in for questioning by the police. Some exiles have had to cut ties with their families.
So these sanctions are welcome. But the United States should not stop there. Other Hong Kong officials responsible for Beijing’s crackdown should also be sanctioned.
And other governments should follow suit. Last week, 10 Hong Kong activists from the U.K., U.S., and Australia wrote to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, calling on him to impose sanctions. Australia, Canada, and the European Union should do the same.
Beijing broke its international treaty promises to Hong Kong. It has torn up Hong Kong’s freedoms. Now, it threatens the security of Hong Kongers and their supporters around the world. It must not be allowed to get away with this with impunity.
