Hong Kong police warrants ‘act of transnational repression'
Eleven national governments and the European Union have signed a joint statement, vowing to bolster protection for people within their borders who face intimidation and harassment from administrations overseas.
The Hong Kong Police Force last month issued 19 arrest warrants for campaigners who set up and joined the Hong Kong Parliament movement.
The campaigners would like to see 'the reconstruction of a free, fair, and self-governing Hong Kong', according to the organisation's website.
Police in Hong Kong have offered rewards of up to one million Hong Kong dollars (almost £100,000) to individuals who help track down the campaigners, including people who live outside of their jurisdiction.
'Together with our international partners, we condemn the Hong Kong police's efforts to coerce, intimidate and harass those living in the UK and overseas,' security minister Dan Jarvis wrote on X.
'We will not tolerate these acts of transnational repression in our country.'
Referring to the joint statement which the UK has signed, as a member of the G7's rapid response mechanism (RRM), Foreign Office minister Catherine West said: 'The UK and partners have condemned the latest arrest warrants and bounties issued by the Hong Kong Police – a clear act of transnational repression.'
The statement, also signed by the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden, reads: 'The authorities issued arrest warrants and bounties on individuals outside Hong Kong's borders, including in G7 RRM countries, for exercising their freedom of expression.
'This form of transnational repression undermines national security, state sovereignty, human rights, and the safety of communities.'
The signatories added: 'G7 RRM members and associate members are committed to strengthening our efforts to safeguard our sovereignty, to keep our communities safe, and to defend individuals from the overreach of governments trying to silence, intimidate, harass, harm or coerce them within our borders.
'We encourage individuals to report suspicious activities and any incidents of intimidation, harassment, coercion, or threats to their law enforcement authorities in accordance with domestic laws and regulations.'
According to the Hong Kong Police Force, the organisation has a 'responsibility to pursue, in accordance with the law, persons suspected of committing offences under the Hong Kong National Security Law outside Hong Kong'.
The Hong Kong Parliament group 'aims to subvert state power; its objectives include promoting self-determination, promulgating the so-called Hong Kong Constitution, and overthrowing or undermining the basic system of the People's Republic of China', so its members face arrest suspected of committing 'subversion' according to local laws, a police statement added.
In a statement on the Hong Kong Parliament website, the organisation 'stands as both a representative voice and a protective institution for Hongkongers worldwide'.
Its members 'are committed to safeguarding our community, defending the rule of law, and exposing the CCP's (Chinese Communist Party's) system of governance for what it is: authoritarianism masked as legitimacy'.
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