Resolution on Hong Kong
Throughout the year 2020, in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, we have witnessed, in China, assaults on human rights, democracy and international law: the extended repressions of the Uyghurs and other minorities, the illegal maritime claims in the South China Sea, and the strangling of fundamental freedoms, rule of law and autonomy in Hong Kong.
On June 30th, 2020, the Chinese government implemented a new national security law for Hong Kong that brought its residents under the ruling of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This legislation violated China’s commitment to preserving the “One Country, Two Systems” agreement that would have guaranteed Hong Kong’s autonomy through 2047. In passing this law, the CCP demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice economic interests, the rule of law, and basic human rights to establish political control over Hong Kong. The national security law has fundamentally transformed the international perception of China as a global actor.
The IDU refers to its resolution from August 4th, 2020 and reaffirms its position that the CCP significantly compromised Hong Kong’s democratic structure based on the rule of law and suppressed all aspects of Hong Kong’s democratic civil society.
The CCP’s overreach in Hong Kong has resulted in the complete erosion of the rule of law. The IDU, therefore:
- considers the national security legislation for Hong Kong to be a matter of continuous and grave concern;
- expresses great concern at the steady deterioration of civil liberties, political rights and press freedom, especially by the unprecedented pressure on journalists and their increasing self-censorship;
- stresses that the Basic Law in Hong Kong guarantees freedom of speech, the press and publication; and freedom of association, assembly, procession and demonstration;
- calls on the authorities in Hong Kong and China to ensure the protection of human rights and the freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law for all citizens;
- strongly condemns the sentencing of Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam in Hong Kong for supporting pro-democracy protests. These three activists have been jailed in violation of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Their convictions should be overturned without delay and they must be released immediately and unconditionally;
- demands the release and return to Hong Kong of all people detained by China while fleeing Hong Kong by boat.