Reply from the Foreign Secretary about the arrest of Hong Kong democrats – including Jimmy Lai – which call to mind the “knock on the door at the dead of night” and the rounding up of opposition voices by the NKVD/KGB, the Gestapo, Securitate, the Stasi, and the rest. The methodology and practices of the Cultural Revolution along with the totalitarianism and intolerance of authoritarian States should be consigned to history, not mimicked in Hong Kong. The authorities in Hong Kong should be using all their energy and resources to fight the Coronavirus not harassing and intimidating proponents of democracy. These arrests represent a truly shocking and very serious setback for ‘one country, two systems’ and Hong Kong’s freedoms.

April 2nd 2020 Reply of the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab MP, about the arrest of Jimmy Lai and other Hong Kong pro democracy activists, in which he says:

“It is essential that they are afforded due process and that justice is applied in a fair and transparent way. We are following their cases very closely to make sure this happens….The leadership in Hong Kong is in no doubt about the strength of UK concern over the current situation.”

01833 Foreign Secretary to Lord Alton of Liverpool

Yesterday’s arrests in Hong Kong call to mind the “knock on the door at the dead of night” and the rounding up of opposition voices by the NKVD/KGB, the Gestapo, Securitate, the Stasi, and the rest.

The methodology and practices of the Cultural Revolution, along with the totalitarianism and intolerance of authoritarian States, should be consigned to history, not mimicked in Hong Kong.

The authorities in Hong Kong should be using all their energy and resources to fight the Coronavirus not harassing and intimidating proponents of democracy.

These arrests represent a truly shocking and very serious setback for ‘one country, two systems’ and Hong Kong’s freedoms.

I was shocked to learn, overnight, of the arrest of three singular figures in Hong Kong.

They include Jimmy Lai and several other mainstream democrats:

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3052789/hong-kong-protests-apple-daily-owner-jimmy-lai-arrested

The UK Government should make an urgent statement detailing the Government’s response to the arrest by the Hong Kong Police of Jimmy Lai ( a highly significant Hong Kong media entrepreneur), of Lee Cheuk-yan (the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Labour Party) and Young Sum ( the former chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party) and say what representations they are making to the governments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the People’s Republic of China about these arrests.

I have asked Dominic Raab, the Foreign to spell out what implications the  arrest of these three prominent mainstream pro-democracy leaders has for the prospects of “one country, two systems” and the protection of freedoms promised to the Hong Kong people under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and guaranteed under the Basic Law.

The British government needs to immediately galvanise the international community and urge the authorities to drop these charges.

https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/koBRCoVxqfQvg7oC1vJsQ?domain=hongkongwatch.org