Washington, D.C. (Nov. 2, 2023) — In response to the introduction of the Hong Kong Sanctions Act by U.S.Representatives Young Kim, Jim McGovern, and John Curtis; and the companion legislation in the Senate by Senators Jeff Merkley and Dan Sullivan, HKDC issues the following statement.
From Anna Kwok, HKDC’s Executive Director:
“We applaud Representatives Young Kim, Jim McGovern, and John Curtis, as well as Senators Jeff Merkley and Dan Sullivan, for holding the perpetrators accountable. When the Hong Kong SAR government put a HK$1M bounty on my head, it was clear that they were retaliating for my call to sanction National Security Law (NSL) prosecutors and judges in the hearing hosted by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) in May. I was not the only one to call for these measures: that same month, the CECC’s staff report on Hong Kong urged Congress and the Biden Administration to issue sanctions on NSL judges and prosecutors.
We are grateful for the dedication from our congressional allies and the support from diaspora groups on this bicameral and bipartisan bill. We hope this can serve as a wake-up call to all human-rights abusers in Hong Kong that they will be held accountable for their actions. The bill names 49 Hong Kong SAR government officials, NSL judges and prosecutors, all of whom are complicit in undermining Hong Kong’s legal system. Gone are the days where we could be proud of Hong Kong’s rule of law and judicial independence. The 49 individuals are key architects of the C.C.P.’s attack on Hong Kong’s legal system: this bill shows that the global community will not allow these threats to judicial independence to fester.”