[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 636 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 636
Condemning Beijing's destruction of Hong Kong's democracy and rule of
law.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 28, 2023
Mrs. Kim of California (for herself, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Williams of
Texas, Mr. Bera, and Mr. Meeks) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning Beijing's destruction of Hong Kong's democracy and rule of
law.
Whereas, in 1997, Great Britain handed Hong Kong over to Chinese rule under
guarantees that Hong Kong would become a Special Administrative Region
under the ``one country, two systems'' principle, pursuant to which Hong
Kong's Basic Law would apply and would enshrine ``fundamental rights''
of Hong Kong residents and a political structure, including an
independent judiciary, the right to vote, and freedoms of assembly and
speech, among others;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has repeatedly
undermined Hong Kong's autonomy since the 1997 handover, including
actions which resulted in political protests in Hong Kong, including the
Umbrella Movement in 2014, a protest against Beijing's attempt to reform
Hong Kong's electoral system, and the 2019-2020 protests, which opposed
the Hong Kong Government's attempt to implement an extradition law that
would have subjected Hong Kongers to prosecution in mainland China;
Whereas the Hong Kong Police Force used excessive force to try to quell the
2019-2020 protestors, many of whom were under the age of 30;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China responded to these
protests by passing and implementing the Law of the People's Republic of
China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (commonly referred to as the ``Hong Kong national
security law'') a vaguely defined criminal statute that includes overly
broad charges and extraterritorial reach to punish people for exercising
their fundamental rights and freedoms;
Whereas, since its enactment in June 2020, this law has been used by the
Government of the People's Republic of China as a pretext to crack down
on legitimate and peaceful expression, including the exercise of
freedoms of assembly, speech, and religious belief provided for under
the Basic Law, to replace the Hong Kong legislature with individuals
loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, and to pass new immigration laws
that subject Hong Kong citizens and residents, as well as PRC nationals
and foreign nationals, to exit bans in Hong Kong similar to those
implemented in mainland China;
Whereas more than 200 people have been arrested under the Hong Kong national
security law since its enactment in June 2020;
Whereas, at least 47 individuals known collectively as the Hong Kong 47,
including Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Joshua Wong Chi-fung, are facing
national security charges for organizing or participating in a peaceful
unofficial primary election, many of whom have been held in lengthy
pretrial detention;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is using the Hong Kong
national security law to harass, target, and threaten non-Hong Kong
citizens and those outside of Hong Kong, based upon unsubstantiated and
vague allegations of ``endangering national security'';
Whereas, Jimmy Lai, a 75-year-old Hong Kong pro-democracy advocate and media
entrepreneur, has been targeted and persecuted for decades, most
recently through multiple prosecutions, including related to exercising
his rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,
his sentencing to over five years in prison under politically motivated
fraud charges and the seizure of his multimillion dollar independent
media organization Apple Daily by the Hong Kong authorities;
Whereas Mr. Lai is now one of the highest profile cases facing trial under
vaguely defined charges under the so-called ``national security law'';
Whereas Cardinal Zen, a 90-year-old Roman Catholic cardinal, and five other
colleagues were found guilty of politically motivated charges related to
failing to register a humanitarian fund that helped anti-government
protesters;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China's undermining of
democracy in Hong Kong has ramifications for the international order,
including with regard to the future of Taiwan;
Whereas the Hong Kong Government has conducted a public relations campaign to
convince global business leaders that Hong Kong remains a critical and
attractive international financial center, while simultaneously
undermining the independence of institutions that encouraged its growth
over the past several decades;
Whereas Hong Kong still maintains a separate voting share from the People's
Republic of China at many multilateral organizations--including the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the Financial Action Task Force, the
International Olympic Committee, and the World Trade Organization--
effectively doubling the People's Republic of China's voting power at
these critical institutions; and
Whereas the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act (Public Law 116-76; 22
U.S.C. 5701 note), signed into law in November 2019, requires the
President to use sanctions to promote accountability for those
responsible for certain conduct that undermines fundamental freedoms and
autonomy in Hong Kong: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of
China's ``Hong Kong national security law'' and related human
rights abuses;
(2) urges all governments that value democracy or autonomy
to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its
destruction of Hong Kong's autonomy, rule of law, and freedoms;
(3) supports the people of Hong Kong as they fight to
exercise fundamental rights and freedoms, as enumerated by--
(A) 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;
(B) the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, done at New York December 19, 1966;
and
(C) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, done
at Paris December 10, 1948;
(4) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of
China's practice of bringing false and politically motivated
charges, such as fraud, against Hong Kongers in order to
tarnish their reputations in advance of their national security
law trials;
(5) calls upon the Hong Kong Government to immediately drop
all sedition and national security law-related charges,
including those against the Hong Kong 47, Jimmy Lai, and
Cardinal Zen, and free all defendants immediately;
(6) expresses extreme concern about the Government of the
People's Republic of China's State-directed theft of Apple
Daily, and holds that Hong Kong no longer has credibility as an
international business center due to the erosion of the
regulatory and legal environments that have promoted its
economic growth for decades;
(7) encourages the United States Government and other
governments to take steps at multilateral institutions to
ensure that voting procedures recognize that there is no longer
a meaningful distinction between Hong Kong and mainland China;
and
(8) urges the United States Government to use all available
tools, including those authorized by the Hong Kong Human Rights
and Democracy Act, in response to the Government of the
People's Republic of China's actions in Hong Kong.
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