With little to no native criticism, the CCP rammed the Safeguarding National Security Bill through the Hong Kong Legislative Council.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California ) and other lawmakers have recently condemned draconian legislation passed in Hong Kong with the support of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
On March 23, the Safeguarding National Security Bill, Article 23, became effective. It was put forth by the CCP-controlled Hong Kong Legislative Council in 2003, but regional demonstrations and international protest hampered its implementation at the time.
In a follow-up to its harsh nationwide security law, which was put into effect in 2020, the CCP has rammed the legislation through the Hong Kong government with little local opposition.
” It’s… a complete betrayal”, Ms. Pelosi said at a press conference at the Capitol on March 22, referring to the CCP’s reneging on its 1997 “one land two systems” deal to expand greater freedom to Hong Kong. She referred to the new laws as an “alarming growth of the Communist Chinese Party’s assault on Hong Kong’s liberty.”
” The democratic opposition is totally wiped out”, said Rep. Chris Smith ( R- N. J. ). Smith cited the case of Jimmy Lai, the editor of Apple Daily, who was imprisoned in 2021 for allegedly arranging council without permission and is currently facing a trial for conspiring to coerce with foreign makes.
” Freedom is being crushed”, said Sen. Jeff Merkley ( D- Ore. ). The Congressional- Executive Commission on China, a nonpartisan board tasked with investigating human rights violations in China, is co-chaired by Smith and Merkley.
Bipartisan Weight
While all three legislators praised the republican work undertaken by China since 2019, Mr. Smith attributed the current situation to a similar bipartisan work under the Bill Clinton management, which formalized trade with China by removing human rights concerns from “favored-nation” trade status.
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Additionally, Ms. Pelosi added that,” We do n’t speak out about human rights violations in China because of commercial interests.”
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act ( HKETO ) and the Transnational Repression Policy Act, which would stifle international retaliation against political dissidents, were both introduced by Mr. Smith and Mr. Merkely in a letter to Congress.
HKETO had already been deliberated by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to Mr. Smith, but it was dropped from the list of bills that were scheduled for a ground vote last week because of “inexplicable factors.” The offices of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La. ) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La. ) did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times as to why the costs was taken off the floor plan.
Social migrants Catherine Hui and Anna Kwok, two young women being pursued by the Hong Kong authorities, joined the legislators. Each carries a government- sponsored bounty of HK$ 1 million ( US$ 128, 000 ) on their heads.
Ms. Hui brought up the CCP’s concern about spiritual persecution of Christians and Falun Gong. According to her, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong may be forced to resign from their position with the Vatican and visit the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association of China. ” I’m afraid that the future of spiritual communities may be seriously in jeopardy,” she said.
She warned that priests who violate the mark of confession could also be subject to a 14-year jail sentence for disclosing information about Hong Kong citizens who broke the law.
Businessman and dissident Elmer Yuen, who is also pursued under wealth by officials, had a violent information for his brother Residents:” There’s no use crying, there’s no use fighting. We may get rid of the CCP once and for all in order for us to gain to Hong Kong.
