U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement on Hong Kong on Jan. 9 (Source: Screenshot from the State Department’s official website).
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued another joint statement on Hong Kong on January 9, condemning the Hong Kong government’s arrest of 55 pro-democracy activists on “subversion charges” under the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law.
The statement condemned the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong government for using the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” to eliminate dissent and suppress opposing political views. The statement reads, “The ‘Hong Kong Version of the National Security Law’ is a clear violation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and undermines the framework of ‘one country, two systems’, which undermines the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people.”
The statement called on the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to “respect the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people as protected by law, so that they do not have to worry about being arrested and detained.”
The statement also stressed that it is crucial that the Hong Kong government conduct the Legislative Council election, which was delayed last September due to the “Chinese Communist virus” outbreak (also known as the new coronavirus, COVID-19), in a “fair” manner that accommodates candidates of all political views.
On January 6, the Hong Kong government arrested 55 pro-democracy activists who were involved in organizing the democratic primary election for the Legislative Council last June, a move that was strongly condemned by the international community.
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