Govt rejects claims in Hong Kong Watch open letter

Human rights activist Benedict Rogers was refused entry to Hong Kong in 2017. File photo: RTHK

The government on Wednesday said it refutes as unfounded and misguided, claims in an open letter to Chief Executive Carrie Lam signed by a group of forty overseas politicians and dignitaries called Hong Kong Watch.



The letter calls on the Chief Executive to instruct the Hong Kong Police Force to exercise restraint, respect the right to peaceful protest, and use “only proportionate measures when dealing with any violent conduct”.



The open letter also urges Lam to begin a process of democratic political reform, noting the turnout and results in the district council elections last month.



In response, the government said it was gravely concerned that claims in the letter are biased and misleading.



And a government spokesman rejected outright the suggestion in the open letter that the international community establish an international independent inquiry mechanism.



Hong Kong Watch is an NGO based in the UK that was established to monitor the conditions of human rights, freedoms and rule of law in Hong Kong.



It was founded by British human rights activist Benedict Rogers in 2017, two months after he was barred from entering Hong Kong.