{"id":479686,"date":"2022-01-21T17:35:51","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T17:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/hongkong-eu-01212022115950.html"},"modified":"2022-01-21T17:35:51","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T17:35:51","slug":"european-parliament-slams-hong-kong-rights-abuses-under-draconian-security-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/01\/21\/european-parliament-slams-hong-kong-rights-abuses-under-draconian-security-law\/","title":{"rendered":"European parliament slams Hong Kong rights abuses under draconian security law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
The European Parliament passed a motion on<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Friday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>condemning ongoing human rights abuses by authorities in Hong Kong under a crackdown on dissent linked to a draconian national security law imposed by China.<\/span>
The motion called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested under the law, which was imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>July 1<\/span><\/span>, 2020.<\/span>
\"[This Parliament] ... calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all peaceful Hong Kong protesters arrested in recent years, including Joshua Wong, Ivan Lam, and Agnes Chow, and for all charges against them to be dropped,\" the motion said.<\/span><\/span>
It also called for \"independent, impartial, effective and prompt investigations into the use of force by the Hong Kong police against protesters\" during the 2019 protest movement, which began as an outpouring of mass, peaceful protest against plans to allow extradition to mainland China, and broadened to include demands for fully democratic elections and great official accountability.<\/span>
It said the law \"damages Hong Kong\u2019s international status by eroding its autonomy and democracy, the independence of the justice system and its respect for human rights,\" and hit out at Europe-based banks for colluding with the CCP in freezing the assets of \"suspects\" under the national security law.<\/span>
The motion also highlighted \"the tangible risk that Hong Kong could be integrated into the Chinese firewall\" despite having enjoyed relatively free internet access so far.<\/span>
It called on the EU to look into sanctions against Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, former police chief-turned-security secretary Chris Tang, and high-ranking CCP officials overseeing the crackdown, including Xia Baolong, Zhang Xiaoming and Luo Huining.<\/span>
The move drew an angry response from Beijing, with a spokesperson of the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong expressing \"strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition\" to the motion.<\/span>
\"[We call on] certain politicians in the European Parliament to ... immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any form, and in China's internal affairs,\" the spokesman said.<\/span>
He said Beijing had used the national security law to \"improve\" Hong Kong's electoral system by ensuring that only \"patriots\" approved by a CCP-backed committee could run in elections.<\/span>