Dear all, 

Please find attached a review of recent Hong Kong Watch research, including Lord Patten and Hong Kong Watch's evidence to the House of Lords International Relations Select Committee, our update on events in April, and analysis on why Britain's legal community has been so quiet.

 

Best wishes, 

Johnny 

 

The headlines in Hong Kong | Mainland style exit bans to arrive in Hong Kong?

The Hong Kong Government paved the way for them to be able to impose mainland style exit bans on Hong Kongers with the passage of a new Immigration Bill. They claim that these new powers are needed to screen illegal immigrants and deal with a backlog of 13,000 asylum applications, but the bill grants unfettered power on the Director of Immigration to stop anyone leaving. Their disclaimer should be met with caution. This is the same government which claimed that the National Security Law would only be applied to a tiny minority of extremists. Our explainer has more.

 

It is not only immigration where there have been problems. The conviction of Martin Lee and Margaret Ng was the latest in a spate of dire judgments. Press freedom came under concerted attack on World Press Freedom Day and a 'fake news' law is in the pipeline. 129 civil servants were fired for failing to give an oath of allegiance to the motherland. Former and current judges have raised concerns about bail proceedings not being in line with human rights law. You can read our April human rights briefing here. 

 

Chris Patten | Time for an end to "self delusion oiled and greased by greed" 

Our patron, Lord Patten of Barnes recently submitted evidence to the House of Lords International Relations Select Committee inquiry. His remarks are worth reading in full. He concludes: 

 

"In trying to develop a coherent, effective and contemporary response to China’s behaviour, it seems to me imperative to recognise how in the past we have consistently deluded ourselves, with the self-delusion often oiled and greased by greed and our assumptions about commercial advantage."

 

"When the Joint Declaration was being negotiated many people in Hong Kong asked that there should be an arbitration mechanism as part of it. They were turned down on the grounds that the Chinese Communist Party could be trusted and that the development of democracy in Hong Kong would help to protect it. We know what has happened."

 

Silence from the British legal community 

Despite some of Hong Kong's most senior barristers facing conviction under trumped up charges, the British legal community has been notably quiet. Jonathan Sumption even had the chutzpah to claim that the National Security Law has credible human rights guarantees in a questionable piece of apologism in The Times. 

 

What explains this? Money, suggests Sam Goodman our senior Policy Advisor, in a piece which underlines that the total value of trade in services between the UK legal sector and China was worth £58 million in 2018. Apart from notable exceptions like Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC and Schona Jolly QC, "too many in the UK legal community are wedded to the failed policies of the ‘Golden Era’ either being co-opted or shamefully cowed into silence on Hong Kong by Beijing", he concludes. 

 

China, Human Rights and the International Financial System

Our team submitted an in-depth paper on the relationship between China, Human Rights and the International Financial System to the House of Lords Select Committee inquiry on China. 

We underline that there are three key risks associated with the deepening ties: 

  1. The opacity of China’s financial markets leaves investors exposed
  2. Ethical concerns have not been carefully considered by institutional investors.
  3. Military-Civil fusion means we are funding the Chinese military.

We call for the UK to: 

 
Johnny Patterson
Policy Director
Hong Kong Watch