[Photo Jess Taylor]
Bath’s MP, Wera Hobhouse, has pressed the Government to sanction those responsible for the unacceptable targeting of Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners living in the UK.
Hong Kong authorities have issued rewards of HK$1 million (around £100,000) for information leading to the arrest of several pro-democracy campaigners who fled to the UK. These campaigners are accused of breaking Hong Kong’s oppressive national security law, imposed by Beijing, and are the subjects of arrest warrants.
These bounties are just the latest move by authorities to crack down on dissidence and silence those pushing for democracy.
In Parliament, Mrs Hobhouse condemned the Hong Kong authorities for issuing what she described as “bounties” on the heads of pro-democracy campaigners, labeling it a “shocking act of transnational aggression”.
She urged the government to respond by placing sanctions on those in Hong Kong and Beijing responsible for authorising these through the UK’s Magnitsky sanction regime.
Magnitsky sanctions are sanctions placed on those who commit human rights violations and abuses and target individuals and organisations, not nations. They can include stopping individuals from entering the UK, channeling money through UK banks, and profiting from our economy.
Seema Malhotra, the Foreign Office’s Minister for Indo-Pacific, agreed with the Bath MP that these actions must be condemned and said that attempts by foreign governments to “coerce, intimidate or harm” those in the UK are completely unacceptable and damage Hong Kong’s international reputation. She said the government would look further at the situation.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, commented:
“The targeting of Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners on UK soil is a shocking act of transnational aggression which is completely unacceptable. It must be condemned in the strongest possible way.
“It’s outrageous that while China is placing bounties on the heads of people living in the UK the government is trying to cosy up to them. This foreign interference cannot be left to go unchallenged. The government must place sanctions on those in Beijing and Hong Kong behind these repressive and unjust bounties.”
