European Parliament 2019-2024 Plenary sitting B9-0071/2021 19.1.2021 MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure on the crackdown on the democratic opposition in Hong Kong (2021/2505(RSP)) Jordi Solé, Reinhard Bütikofer, Erik Marquardt, Alice Kuhnke, Francisco Guerreiro, Rosa D'Amato, Saskia Bricmont, Diana Riba i Giner, Pär Holmgren, Hannah Neumann, Alviina Alametsä, Yannick Jadot, Ignazio Corrao, Jakop G. Dalunde, Bronis Ropė, Eleonora Evi, Tineke Strik, Sara Matthieu on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group RE\P9_B(2021)0071_EN.docx PE662.855v01-00 EN United in diversityEN B9-0071/2021 European Parliament resolution on the crackdown on the democratic opposition in Hong Kong (2021/2505(RSP)) The European Parliament, – having regard to its resolutions of 19 June 2020 on the PRC national security law for Hong Kong and of 18 July 2019 on the situation in Hong Kong1, to its resolutions of 24 November 2016 on the case of Gui Minhai, jailed publisher in China2, of 4 February 2016 on the case of the missing book publishers in Hong Kong3, and to its previous recommendations relating to Hong Kong, in particular the recommendation of 13 December 2017 on Hong Kong, 20 years after handover4, – having regard to its previous resolutions on China, in particular those of 12 September 20185 and of 16 December 20156 on EU-China relations, – having regard to the adoption of the National Security Law in Hong Kong by the Standing Committee of the China’s National People’s Congress on 30 June 2020, – having regard to the declarations on Hong Kong by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), on behalf of the European Union, of 12 November 2020 and 7 January 2021, - having regard to the statements on Hong Kong by the Spokeperson of 10 August, 22 September, 2 November and 29 December 2020, – having regard to the joint statement of the 21st EU-China summit of 9 April 2019, – having regard to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) adopted on 4 April 1990, which entered into force on 1 July 1997, – having regard to the joint Communication from the Commission and the VP/HR of 12 March 2019 entitled ‘EU-China – A strategic outlook’ (JOIN(2019)0005), and the Council conclusions of 18 July 2016 on the EU Strategy on China, - having regard to the European Parliament Conference of Presidents’ press statement of 6 July 2020, - having regard to the Council Conclusions on Hong Kong of 24 July 2020, - having regard to the Council Decision and a Regulation establishing a global human 1 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2019)0004. 2 OJ C 244, 27.6.2018, p. 78. 3 OJ C 35, 31.1.2018, p. 46 4 OJ C 369, 11.10.2018, p. 156 5 OJ C 433, 23.12.2019, p. 103. 6 OJ C 399, 24.11.2017, p. 92. PE662.855v01-00 2/9 RE\P9_B(2021)0071_EN.docx EN rights sanctions regime of 7 December 2020, – having regard to the joint reports of the Commission and the VP/HR of 22 July 2020 (JOIN(2020)13), 8 May 2019 (JOIN(2019)008), 26 April 2017 (JOIN(2016)0016) and 25 April 2016 (JOIN(2016)0010) on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region – Annual Report, – having regard to the 13th annual Structured Dialogue that took place in Hong Kong on 28 November 2019, and the 37th EU-China Human Rights Dialogue, held in Brussels on 1 and 2 April 2019, – having regard to the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong of 19 December 1984, also known as the Sino-British Joint Declaration, - having regard to the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Statement on Hong Kong of 17 June 2020, - having regard to the comment on the situation in Hong Kong by the OHCHR Spokesperson on 7 January 2021, – having regard to the EU’s ‘One China’ policy, – having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, – having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966, and the concerns raised by the UN Human Rights Committee in its List of Issues for Hong Kong, published on 26 August 2020, – having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure, A. whereas on 5 January 2021 the Hong Kong police arrested 53 representatives of the democratic opposition and activists under charges of subversion under the National Security Law in Hong Kong (NSL); whereas among those detained were the organisers and candidates of last July’s democratic primaries in view of the upcoming LegCo elections, former LegCo members, district councillors, as well as an American lawyer involved in the pro-democracy movement; whereas under the direction of the Hong Kong Police, banks also froze HKD $ 1.6 million related to the 53 individuals; whereas all but three individuals have been released on bail pending further investigation; B. whereas this was the latest of a long series of arrests of representatives and activists of the democratic opposition and other actions aimed at undermining democratic institutions in Hong Kong since the entry into force of the NSL on 1 July 2020; whereas 93 opposition figures have been arrested under the law since its introduction; whereas the United Nations human rights experts on 1 September affirmed that the law implicated serious concerns of legality, as well as undue limitations on freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly; C. whereas Hong Kong Leader and prominent Chinese officials had declared, upon its RE\P9_B(2021)0071_EN.docx 3/9 PE662.855v01-00 EN adoption, that the NSL would be applied over some extremely rare cases posing serious threats to Chinese national security; whereas, in practice, the law, based on very broad and vague definitions and provisions, is being applied to essentially outlaw all forms of dissent with the pro-Chinese camp, to stifle political pluralism and the exercise of human rights; whereas since the adoption of the NSL Hong Kong authorities have increasingly detained pro-democracy leaders, raided news media offices and ousted opposition lawmakers almost on a daily basis; D. whereas the Hong Kong government took the decision to postpone LegCo elections originally scheduled for 6 September 2020 by one year, clearly in an effort to hamper the opposition, which for the first time had stood a real chance of winning a majority; whereas immediately after the entry into force of the NSL, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam declared that primaries were illegal and might violate the NSL; E. whereas on 10 August 2020 Jimmy Lay, the media mogul and founder of the pro-dem newspaper Apple Daily was arrested on grounds of violations of the NSL; F. whereas on 23 August, 12 Hong Kong city residents, who had been active in the protests, were arrested after being caught in a speedboat fleeing to Taiwan on grounds of separatism and collusion with foreign forces; whereas, after having being detained without charge in a detention centre in the mainland and being denied bail, at the end of December 2020, 10 of the them were sentenced to between seven months and three years in prison after a one-day trial in Shenzen, which was effectively closed to the public and held in violation of the principle of fair trial and due process; G. whereas on 10 November 2020 the National People’s Congress (NPC) of the PRC passed a resolution to make patriotism a legal requirement for Hong Kong lawmakers, giving power to the Hong Kong government to disqualify lawmakers without having to go through courts; whereas, under such new ruling, Hong Kong lawmakers who refuse to acknowledge Beijing’s sovereignty will “immediately lose their qualifications”; whereas on the next day following the adoption of the ruling, four opposition LegCo members were disqualified; H. whereas in reaction to such events, 15 members of the pan-democrat opposition in the LegCo immediately resigned en masse and in protest, leaving LegCo practically deprived of any representation of the opposition; I. whereas on 24 July 2020, the Council of the EU adopted a coordinated package of measures towards Hong Kong to respond to the imposition of the NSL, in particular measures in relation to visas, asylum and residence permits, an export control regime for dual-use equipment and technology related to internal repression and cyber surveillance, stepping up scholarships and academic exchanges involving Hong Kong students and universities, further engagement with and supporting Hong Kong civil society, the monitoring the extra-territorial effects of the NSL, the review of extradition arrangements between the EU Member States and Hong Kong; whereas those measures were reviewed by the EEAS and discussed with the Member States at the Foreign Affairs Council on 7 December 2020, concluding that the political situation had deteriorated, with severe blows to political pluralism and freedom of opinion and that the EU would continue to implement the Council conclusions expressing political PE662.855v01-00 4/9 RE\P9_B(2021)0071_EN.docx EN support for Hong Kong's autonomy under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle, and that, if necessary, further measures could be considered at a later stage; K. whereas with the adoption of the Council Decision and Regulation establishing a global human rights sanction regime, for the first time, the EU is equipping itself with a framework that will allow it to target individuals, entities and bodies – including state and non-state actors – responsible for, provide financial, technical, or material support for or are otherwise involved in, or associated with serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide, no matter where they occurred; J.