Yesterday (6) Hong Kong police arrested 53 pro-democracy activists, including Wong Chi-fung, who is serving a prison sentence, and Tam Tak Chi, who was detained, making a total of 55 people arrested for participating in last year’s pro-democracy primary election. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded by expressing outrage over the incident and considering sanctions, including restrictions on Hong Kong’s economic and trade offices in Washington, D.C. The arrest of Clancey was reportedly an international shock.
CNN reports that Kwan Sheung-yee is the first foreigner not holding a Hong Kong passport to be arrested on national security charges. But the arrest of Guan Shangyi may become an important diplomatic issue at a time of tension between China and the United States.
Yesterday afternoon, Guan Shangyi walked into the police vehicle on his own with a muleta stick, and he told more than 20 reporters at the scene, encouraging that we need to work for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong (we need to work for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong).
He is a member of the Law Society of Hong Kong’s Human Rights and Constitutional Affairs Panel, Secretary for International Affairs of the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group Council, Chairman of the Asian Human Rights Commission, and former Vice Chairman of Human Rights Watch, according to The News. Kwan has petitioned the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government to urge Beijing authorities to release social activists and human rights lawyers, including lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
He has been practicing law since 1997 and joined Albert Ho’s law firm, Ho, Tse & Wai, where he mainly handles medical negligence, personal injury, and judicial review cases, fighting for justice for the underprivileged through litigation, including representing Falun Gong practitioners who were charged with “street obstruction” for their sit-in petition. The Court of Final Appeal ruled in favor of the Falun Gong practitioners’ appeal. The final verdict of the case mentioned that people’s right to demonstrate should be protected, and that demonstrations are a human right, even if they obstruct the streets, as long as they are within reasonable limits.
Another incident that is well known to Hong Kong people is the case of Kwan Sheung Yee, who represented the survivors of the Manila hostage incident and the families of the victims in a lawsuit against the Philippine government in the Hong Kong court, demanding compensation. The brother of Manila hostage victim Tse Ting-Chun, Tse Chi-kin, after learning the news of Kwan Sheung-yee’s arrest, posted a message of solidarity on social media, saying that Kwan Sheung-yee had helped them a lot in defending human rights and social justice, and was a lawyer worthy of respect. The government’s response to the arrest was to say, “The day of political persecution has come, may good people be safe for a lifetime, evil cannot prevail over righteousness, Hong Kong people, hold on”.
On the U.S. side, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to the arrests, saying he was outraged by the incident and would consider imposing sanctions on the people involved. Pompeo said in a statement, Hong Kong people are oppressed by the Chinese Communist Party, the United States will not stand idly by, this arrest reflects the Chinese Communist Party’s contempt for its own people and the rule of law, “the United States will consider imposing sanctions or other restrictions on any individual or entity that suppresses Hong Kong people,” adding that the United States will also impose restrictions on the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington.
In response to the arrest of U.S. citizen Kwan Sheung-yee, Pompeo expressed shock and said, “The United States will not tolerate arbitrary detention or harassment of U.S. citizens.”
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