SENATE RESOLUTION 596--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE HONG KONG NATIONAL SECURITY LAW PROPOSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA WOULD VIOLATE THE OBLIGATIONS OF THAT...; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 96
(Senate - May 21, 2020)
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[Pages S2606-S2607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 596--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE HONG
KONG NATIONAL SECURITY LAW PROPOSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA WOULD VIOLATE THE OBLIGATIONS OF THAT GOVERNMENT
UNDER THE 1984 SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION AND THE HONG KONG BASIC
LAW AND CALLING UPON ALL FREE NATIONS OF THE WORLD TO STAND WITH THE
PEOPLE OF HONG KONG
Mr. HAWLEY (for himself, Mr. Lee, Mr. Cotton, Mrs. Blackburn, Ms.
McSally, Mr. Peters, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Loeffler, Mr. Sullivan, Mr.
Rubio, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. Daines) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 596
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
has proposed a new national security law for Hong Kong that
would ban secession, subversion of state power, and foreign
interference, as defined by the Government of the People's
Republic of China;
Whereas, if the new national security law is passed, the
Government of the People's Republic of China is expected to
use this law to justify and facilitate an expanded crackdown
against peaceful protests and other forms of nonviolent
protest by the people of Hong Kong;
Whereas this proposed law constitutes a significant
escalation in the campaign by the Government of the People's
Republic of China and its proxies in Hong Kong to erase the
basic liberties and human rights promised to the people of
Hong Kong under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and
the Hong Kong Basic Law;
Whereas the announcement by the Government of the People's
Republic of China of its intent to pass this new national
security law reflects that government's fundamental
opposition not only to the basic rights and liberties of free
persons championed by the people of Hong Kong and the United
States, but also to upholding its obligations under
international law; and
Whereas the efforts by the Government of the People's
Republic of China to silence peaceful protestors in Hong Kong
are part and parcel of a broader hegemonic vision that would
see the Government of the People's Republic of China impose
its will upon all free people of Asia and beyond: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the Hong Kong national security law proposed by the
Government of the People's Republic of China would violate
the legal obligations of that government under--
[[Page S2607]]
(A) the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which
guarantees for 50 years the protection of the basic rights
and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, including those of
speech, press, assembly, association, travel, movement,
correspondence, and strike; and
(B) the Hong Kong Basic Law, which reserves the authority
for enacting laws prohibiting treason, secession, sedition,
subversion, and foreign interference to the Government of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; and
(2) the United States Government should use all diplomatic
means available, including targeted sanctions, to--
(A) dissuade the Government of the People's Republic of
China from passing the proposed Hong Kong national security
law;
(B) compel the Government of the People's Republic of China
to rescind the proposed Hong Kong national security law, if
it is passed; and
(C) rally all free nations to stand with the people of Hong
Kong against increasingly severe violations by the Government
of the People's Republic of China of the rights and liberties
guaranteed to them under the 1984 Sino-British Joint
Declaration and the Hong Kong Basic Law.
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