China: During the visit, the UK Foreign Secretary must bring up human rights abuses

This week, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is expected to visit Beijing and Shanghai, marking his first visit to China as Foreign Secretary. Hong Kong Watch, ARTICLE 19, and 21 other civil society and human rights organisations across the United Kingdom have signed a joint statement urging the Foreign Secretary ‘to raise concerns about the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) in Hong Kong: in particular, its extraterritoriality clauses, which allows the law to be wielded as a threat against Hong Kongers in the UK under the British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa scheme, an act which can credibly be described as transnational repression’. The groups also highlighted the need for the Foreign Secretary to  communicate the UK government’s concerns about the case of British citizen Jimmy Lai. 

The statement highlights the Foreign Secretary’s responsibility to speak up for the more than 150,000 Hong Kongers now living in the UK, citing a number of incidents of transnational repression against Hong Kongers in Britain.

The organisations also implore the Foreign Secretary to address the People’s Republic of China’s non-recognition of the BNO passport, which has caused an estimated 126,500 Hong Kongers to be blocked from accessing their Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) retirement savings. The Foreign Secretary should raise the withholding of Hong Kongers’ MPF savings and emphasise that BNO passports are both valid travel documents and forms of identification as they are issued by the UK government.

Last but not least, the organisations call on the Foreign Secretary to communicate the UK government’s concerns around the case of British citizen Jimmy Lai. The statement reads: ‘Mr Lai has been behind bars in Hong Kong for nearly 1,400 days, and remains on trial on trumped-up charges under the Hong Kong National Security Law, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison. While in China, the Foreign Secretary should publicly call for Mr Lai’s immediate and unconditional release.’

During his visit to China, it is crucial that the Foreign Secretary raises serious concerns about the SNSO in Hong Kong, the non-recognition of UK-issued BNO passports, and Jimmy Lai. ‘The Foreign Secretary should send a clear and strong message to the Government of the People’s Republic of China that human rights violations have a cost.’