A number of heavyweight U.S. lawmakers from both parties signed a letter to the Nobel Committee’s Peace Prize Committee on Wednesday, nominating the Hong Kong Democracy Movement for this year’s prize.
In the letter, Democratic Rep. James P. McGovern of Massachusetts, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and seven other senators and representatives noted that since March 2019, there has been a massive campaign for peaceful democracy in Hong Kong against amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. The ordinance poses a threat to every Hong Kong resident being transferred to China and subjected to arbitrary detention. The scale of the peaceful demonstration reached over 2 million people out of Hong Kong’s total population of 7.5 million on June 16, 2019, a feat that set a historical record. Instead, the Chinese Communist authorities cracked down on the pro-democracy movement with the implementation of Hong Kong’s national security laws, resulting in the detention of more than 100 pro-democracy activists, the dismissal of teachers, and the disqualification of activists from running for parliament.
The joint letter emphasizes that this nomination is in recognition of all the activists who have fought for the establishment and maintenance of democracy and human rights in Hong Kong since 1997, and the people who have spoken out against the erosion of freedom and human rights under international commitments such as the Hong Kong Basic Law and autonomy in recent years. The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize will best honor the “Hong Kong Democracy Movement” that has inspired the world in the face of the ongoing human rights repression in Hong Kong.
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