U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday strongly condemned the recent indiscriminate arrests of eight pan-democratic legislators by the Hong Kong police.
The arrests follow the lightning arrests of former legislators Chan Chi-chuen and Chu Kai-dee and incumbents Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, Wu Chi-wai, Wan Siu-kin, Wong Pik-yun and Labour Party Chairman Kwok Wing-kin under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (LCPPO), which brought the number of arrests to eight. They were charged with “contempt” and “interference” under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance for allegedly violating the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance during a clash at a special meeting of the Legislative Council’s House Committee on May 8, which erupted when the pan-democrats blocked the pro-China pro-establishment camp from seizing the right to preside over the meeting.
In response to yet another indiscriminate arrest by the Hong Kong police, Pompeo tweeted on Tuesday, “The attempt to intimidate pan-democratic lawmakers is another example of the complicity of the Hong Kong government and the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party. We stand with the people of Hong Kong,” he tweeted.
Recent Comments