Last Hong Kong governor calls for joint effort among countries to stand up to China

Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, is appealing to countries including Canada to take co-ordinated action against Beijing’s crackdown on civil rights in Hong Kong.

It has been close to three months since China imposed the national security law on Hong Kong – one that criminalizes dissent and opposition. However, many Western countries have taken little action aside from suspending extradition treaties with Hong Kong.

Patten has called for parliamentary committees around the world to probe the crushing of human rights in Hong Kong.

Source: The Globe and Mail #Sep23
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-last-hong-kong-governor-calls-for-joint-effort-among-countries-to/?fbclid=IwAR2VzoIWxtZuY70sS9FeXbnquwQyrlAgKjfat88Ayxi-0H5PSociUrVxijQ

#Canada #HongKong #Sanctions #ChrisPatten

#Pertition
Over 100 UK parliamentarians call for tit-for-tat sanctions against China

//In a joint petition led by #ChrisPatten, the last British Governor of Hong Kong, 103 U.K. parliamentarians called on the U.K. government to sanction Chinese officials, in response to Chinese sanctions on British lawmakers and entities.

“These sanctions reflect the increasingly authoritarian nature of the Chinese Government, which seeks to sanction U.K. parliamentarians, academics, and leading lawyers for the ‘crime’ of daring to voice concern over the persecution of Uighurs,” Patten wrote in the letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“This unprecedented attack on democratic representatives of the Western world deserves a robust and coordinated response,” Patten wrote in the letter, which was posted on the Facebook page of human rights group #HongKongWatch.

“It is clear that the so-called ‘golden-era’ of relations between the U.K. and China is now over,” he added. “We would urge the Government to immediately review, publish, and implement a cross-departmental strategy on how the U.K. can deal with the growing challenge the Chinese Government presents to the democratic world.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy, Asia Minister Stephen Kinnock and former leader of the Conservative Party, Iain Duncan Smith were among the signatories.//

Source: Apple Daily #Apr15
Image: Stand News

https://hk.appledaily.com/news/20210415/AA7LXSA5NFEHZPNGREDOB64IWA/

https://www.thestandnews.com/international/%E5%BD%AD%E5%AE%9A%E5%BA%B7%E7%8E%87-103-%E5%90%8D%E8%8B%B1%E5%9C%8B%E6%9C%83%E8%AD%B0%E5%93%A1%E5%8E%BB%E4%BF%A1%E8%8B%B1%E6%8F%86-%E8%A6%81%E6%B1%82%E5%88%B6%E8%A3%81%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E5%AE%98%E5%93%A1/

25th Anniversary of the Transferral of Hong Kong's Sovereignty: "Huge fallback of democracy"

In 2022, the sovereignty over Hong Kong has been transferred from Britain to the PRC for 25 years but with no plans for universal suffrage. The currrent electoral system is a "huge fallback of democracy".

With the enactment of Hong Kong National Security Law (#NSL) since 2020, the #CentralGovernment largely changed Hong Kong's electoral system, as the city's #LegislativeCouncil (#LegCo) no longer has an opposite voice.

With the enormous change in the political system and the environment in Hong Kong, what hapened to the promise of "High Degree of Autonomy" and "Hong Kong ruled by Hong Kong people"?

"When I was in Hong Kong, I saved my diary for the first time in my life. I hope it can be the evidence of Hong Kong being a British colony with a democratic society." said former and the last Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten.

Hong Kong once experienced a higher level of democracy and more freedom. However, the circumstances have changed a lot in the last 25 years. The promise of a "real universal suffrage" has never been fulfilled. Worse still, the electoral system had been changed.

Source: RFA #July01
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/features/hottopic/feature-71-07012022024423.html

#HighDegreeofAutonomy #ChrisPatten #ElectoralSystem #Handover