[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 126 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 126
Condemning the crackdown by the Government of the People's Republic of
China and the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong, including the
arrests of pro-democracy activists and repeated violations of the
obligations of that Government undertaken in the Sino-British Joint
Declaration of 1984 and the Hong Kong Basic Law.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 18, 2021
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Braun, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Hoeven,
Mr. Young, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Marshall,
Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Markey, Mr. Risch, and Mr. Tillis)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the crackdown by the Government of the People's Republic of
China and the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong, including the
arrests of pro-democracy activists and repeated violations of the
obligations of that Government undertaken in the Sino-British Joint
Declaration of 1984 and the Hong Kong Basic Law.
Whereas, on June 30, 2020, the Government of the People's Republic of China
unilaterally enacted the Law of the People's Republic of China on
Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region (in this preamble referred to as the ``national security law'')
that banned secession, subversion of state power, and foreign
interference, charges that were deliberately vague and expansive
allowing the Government of the People's Republic of China maximum
discretion to criminalize political expression of which it disapproves;
Whereas the national security law was passed without input from the semi-
democratic Legislative Council of Hong Kong, or from the Hong Kong
people more generally, and with no other attempt to account for the
well-founded concerns of the Hong Kong people regarding the sweeping
nature of the legislation and its incompatibility with Hong Kong's
system of justice and legal protections for fundamental rights and
freedoms;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Communist
Party, and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
have applied the draconian national security law arbitrarily to conduct
a crackdown of unprecedented scope and intensity, criminalizing peaceful
protests, political dissent, and other forms of nonviolent expression by
the people of Hong Kong;
Whereas the objective of the political crackdown is to persecute individuals who
have led peaceful pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong and to nullify
the fundamental freedoms and human rights guaranteed to the people of
Hong Kong under the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the
People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong, done at Beijing
December 19, 1984 (commonly referred to as the ``Sino-British Joint
Declaration of 1984''), and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, adopted April
4, 1990 (in this preamble referred to as the ``Hong Kong Basic Law'');
Whereas, in July 2020, Hong Kong authorities charged 19-year-old activist Tony
Chung with ``inciting secession'' on account of peaceful political
speech that occurred prior to the enactment of the national security
law, and, in October 2020, arrested and imprisoned Chung, who remains
incarcerated awaiting trial under the national security law;
Whereas, in July 2020, Hong Kong authorities announced that elections for the
Legislative Council scheduled to be held in September 2020 would be
postponed for an entire year under the pretense of public health
concerns;
Whereas, in August 2020, the Government of the People's Republic of China and
the Chinese Communist Party detained 12 Hong Kong activists at sea, 2 of
whom were juveniles, attempting to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan, and, after
holding those individuals arbitrarily for 4 months and denying them
access to lawyers hired by their families, in December 2020, tried them
in a secret proceeding in Shenzhen, China, and, in January 2021,
sentenced 10 of the 12 individuals to prison;
Whereas, in November 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress in Beijing, China, the rubber-stamp legislature of the Chinese
Communist Party, adopted a decision that unilaterally disqualified Hong
Kong legislators who ``publicize or support independence,'' ``seek
foreign interference,'' or engage in ``other activities that endanger
national security,'' thereby allowing proxies of the Chinese Communist
Party in Hong Kong to arbitrarily remove any legislator whose views the
Party found objectionable, which they immediately did by removing 4 pro-
democracy legislators;
Whereas, in December 2020, a Hong Kong court sentenced prominent pro-democracy
leaders and activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam to prison
for their roles in an ``unauthorized assembly'' in 2019;
Whereas, in December 2020, Hong Kong authorities arrested the founder of Apple
Daily and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai on false charges, repeatedly
denied him bail, and subsequently charged him with colluding with
foreign forces under the national security law;
Whereas, in January 2021, Hong Kong authorities arbitrarily arrested 53 pro-
democracy politicians and subsequently charged all but 6 of them with
``subversion'' under Article 22 of the national security law for simply
conducting a public opinion poll in July 2020 regarding candidates for
the Legislative Council;
Whereas, on February 23, 2021, Hong Kong authorities announced that any
candidate for district councilor, the lowest level of officials and the
only office that is fully democratic, must be a ``patriot'' and take an
oath swearing to uphold the Hong Kong Basic Law and pledge allegiance to
the Government of the People's Republic of China, and candidates who
engage in ``negative'' behaviors, such as promoting self-determination,
composing a referendum, or ``seeking to undermine the Hong Kong
government's interest and political structure,'' will be barred from
election for 5 years;
Whereas, on February 28, 2021, Hong Kong authorities arrested 47 pro-democracy
figures, most of whom are or were elected government officials, with
``conspiracy to commit subversion'' under the national security law for
organizing and participating in an informal democratic primary for the
Legislative Council;
Whereas, on February 28, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, ``We
condemn the detention and charges filed against pan-democratic
candidates in Hong Kong's elections and call for their immediate
release. Political participation and freedom of expression should not be
crimes. The U.S. stands with the people of Hong Kong.'';
Whereas, on March 11, 2021, the National People's Congress in Beijing adopted
measures designed to fundamentally undo the existing democratic process
in Hong Kong; and
Whereas the people of Hong Kong have repeatedly shown extraordinary dedication
to the cause of democracy and freedom for more than 3 decades, and
almost continuously since 2014, protesting peacefully in the broiling
heat and pouring rain while often enduring tear gas, water cannons, and
worse, and have organized their communities, written petitions, tried to
stand for office, and volunteered for various forms of civic engagement,
and when the police attacked protesters, other Hong Kongers stepped up
to serve as medics, legal advisers, and liaisons to the protestors'
families: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns the crackdown carried out in Hong Kong by the
Government of the People's Republic of China, the Government of
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the Chinese
Communist Party under the illegitimate and arbitrary pretext of
national security and notes that the crackdown violates the
legal obligations of that Government under--
(A) the international, legally binding Joint
Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government
of the People's Republic of China on the Question of
Hong Kong, done at Beijing December 19, 1984 (in this
resolution referred to as the ``Sino-British Joint
Declaration of 1984''); and
(B) the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region of the People's Republic of
China, adopted April 4, 1990 (in this resolution
referred to as the ``Hong Kong Basic Law'');
(2) expresses solidarity with the people of Hong Kong,
including pro-democracy advocates, independent journalists,
lawyers, people of faith, and other targeted groups in Hong
Kong;
(3) calls on the United States Government to use all
diplomatic means and economic tools available, including
targeted sanctions and measures provided for in the Hong Kong
Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (Public Law 116-76; 22
U.S.C. 5701 note) and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (Public Law
116-149; 22 U.S.C. 5701 note), to--
(A) impose costs on Chinese Communist Party
officials, officials of the Government of the People's
Republic of China, and officials of the Government of
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region responsible
for--
(i) the criminalization of political
dissent under the Law of the People's Republic
of China on Safeguarding National Security in
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (in
this resolution referred to as the ``national
security law''); and
(ii) the implementation of the national
security law;
(B) provide refuge and safe harbor to those Hong
Kongers at risk for persecution, including by
designating such individuals as Priority 2 refugees of
special humanitarian concern;
(C) demand the immediate and unconditional release
of all political prisoners in Hong Kong, including
Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, Jimmy Lai, Martin Lee,
Margaret Ng, Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung, Benny Tai,
Tony Chung, the Hong Kong 12, and all others who have
been arrested or detained on account of acts of
political expression or speech, and press for all
charges against those individuals to be dropped; and
(D) demand the revocation of the political oaths
required of civil servants and candidates for district
councilor and the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, the
reinstatement of the previously disqualified members of
the Legislative Council, and the revision of election
laws to ensure consistency with Article 26 of the Hong
Kong Basic Law;
(4) calls on the United States Government, as it
contemplates future bilateral or multilateral agreements with
the Government of the People's Republic of China, to take into
full consideration the fact that the Government of the People's
Republic of China is failing to honor its clear obligations
under the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984; and
(5) calls on the United States Government to urge the
International Olympic Committee to consider relocating the 2022
Winter Olympics from Beijing to another suitable host city
located outside of China, on account of the flagrant violations
of human rights committed by the Government of the People's
Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party in mainland
China, Hong Kong, the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan
areas, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region, and elsewhere.
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