“In Hong Kong, the CCP is completely destroying local judiciary and turning it into a tool of intimidation and fraud,” Senator Dan Sullivan said.
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation that requires the Trump administration to deal with Hong Kong’s declining freedoms since the extradition from the UK to the Communist Party of China (CCP).
Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Chairman of the China Parliament’s Executive Committee (CECC). Jeff Merkley (d-ore.), co-chair of CECC. John Curtis (R-UTAH) introduced the Hong Kong Justice Sanctions Act (1755) on May 16th.
The Act requires 49 Hong Kong officials, including four authorized by the Ministry of Finance in 2020, to consider whether they committed human rights abuses and should be approved in accordance with the 2019 Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act or the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.
“The dissent of the Chinese Communist Party and offensive oppression of the horrifying human rights records go far beyond China’s borders. Even American citizens and others who live legally in our country have found victims of the CCP administration’s intimidation and coercive tactics,” Sullivan said in a statement.
“In Hong Kong, the CCP is completely corrupting local judiciary, turning it into a tool of intimidation and fraud, contrary to the promises given to the world, including the Joint Declaration of China and the UK.
The promotion of the law has been nearly four years since the CCP imposed the so-called national security law on Hong Kong. This punishes vaguely defined crimes, such as withdrawal or overthrow of the Communist Party, and punishes life sentences to the fullest. Last March, the Hong Kong government passed an additional, drastic national security law known as Article 23.
As of November 1, 2024, 304 had been arrested for national security crimes in Hong Kong, 176 people have been charged and at least 167 are waiting to be found guilty, the UK government said in a report released in March, citing Hong Kong’s Security Bureau.
The US bill was named three Hong Kong judges Johnny Chang, Andrew Chang and Alex Lee, who are responsible for serving prison sentences under the National Security Act for 45 democratic activists last November. Benny Tai, a former Hong Kong law professor, has been sentenced to the toughest sentence of a 10-year sentence.
Another judge appointed in the bill, Esther Toh, oversees the national security trial of British citizen Jimmy Ly.
Hong Kong government prosecutor Antony Chau is involved in the Lai case, but has also been named in the bill.
Also on the list of bills is Hong Kong CEO John Lee. He was the city’s security secretary and Hong Kong’s Supreme Justice Andrew Chen when approved by the US Treasury in 2020.
“The United States must continue to hold these officials accountable as Chinese officials undermines ethnic autonomy and freedom,” Merkley said in a statement.
“Republicans and Democrats are united, both within China and across the border by sending a clear message that they will not tolerate this brutal oppression.
A Hong Kong government spokesman issued a statement denounced the U.S. Senators, saying the city government “spis on so-called ‘sanctions’ and will never be blackmailed.”
The Freedom Committee of the DC-based Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation welcomed the efforts of the Senators.
“The US government should implement Magnitsky and other sanctions on these Chinese and Hong Kong officials who are engaged in crackdowns on the people of Hong Kong,” Jonathan Stever, US director of the CFHK Foundation, said in a statement.
Stivers added that the Senate and House of Representatives should “act under this law as soon as possible.”
A similar bill, dubbed the Hong Kong Sanctions Act (HR 733), was introduced in January by Young Kim (R-Calif) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). The House bill names 48 Hong Kong officials, many of whom are listed on the Senate bill.
Separately, the three senators introduced a resolution denounced China for engaging in cross-border oppression by targeting critics of Chinese administrations in other countries, including the United States.
