28th February, 2021

STAND WITH HONG KONG

Global Joint Statement on the Indictment of 47 Hong Kong Political Activists

On the 28th February, 2021, 47 Hong Kong democrats and activists were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under the National Security Law (NSL), which Beijing illegally implemented in Hong Kong without due process. Despite being scheduled to report to the Hong Kong Police on a later date (8th April), the 47 democrats and activists were served a short notice 2 days ago to report today (28th February) instead, and were immediately detained until being brought before the court to face their charges tomorrow.

All 47 detainees are pro-democracy activists involved in the unofficial primaries prior to last year’s legislative council election. They include the organizers of the primaries such as Benny Tai (戴耀廷), Au Nok-Hin (區諾軒), and Andrew Chiu (趙家賢); as well as candidates on the ballots such as Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), who is already serving a sentence in prison, and Ted Hui (許智峯) and Sunny Cheung (張崑陽), who have been forced into exile. The primaries aimed to foster better coordination of candidacies between electoral districts, which would be unremarkable and legal in most countries, but in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) it was already an attempt at subversion and overthrowing its one-party rule. The NSL is now being used as a weapon to suppress, persecute, and eradicate any pro-democracy endeavors in Hong Kong.

We unequivocally condemn the aforementioned mass arrest, which runs against the universal values of freedom and democracy. This is a clear human rights violation and in breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. We call upon all governments and civil organizations of the world that uphold our universal values of human rights, freedom, and democracy to stand with Hong Kong at this time, to condemn the mass arrest, and to confront the CCP with concrete actions. All governments must actively resist this erosion of freedom and democracy by the CCP, lest what happens to Hong Kong today slowly but surely encroach upon them.

Co-signatories: (Please order by country)

Global:

Australia:

Austria:

Canada:

France:

Germany:

Hong Kong:

India:

Japan:

Netherlands:

New Zealand:

Norway:

Poland:

United Kingdom:

Thailand:

USA: