'Pro-govt side jumping to conclusions on US action'

'Pro-govt side jumping to conclusions on US action'

Three pan-democratic lawmakers who recently joined four Executive Council members in meeting officials in the US say they believe the government advisers are "jumping to conclusions" by saying that Washington won't sanction SAR officials.



Exco convenor Bernard Chan said on Tuesday that there was little discussion of action under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act during the talks in Washington.



But lawmakers Charles Mok, Kenneth Leung and Jeremy Tam who were in the delegation that held talks with the Trump administration said on Wednesday that they shared evidence of the human rights situation and political development here.



Mok said speculation there would be no action by Washington was premature. He said the US has its own law, and the rule of law, and a high standard when it comes to executing certain sanctions.



"Hearing that and thinking 'oh, we have no problem', I think that is only the view of the pro-establishment [side]," he said.



"Whether or not the United States government or officials share the same view, from the meeting we did not get that impression," said Mok.



Leung said whether the US imposes sanctions is entirely up to the president, and all they have done is give honest evidence on what has happened in Hong Kong in relation to the deterioration of human rights and autonomy over the past year.



Fellow lawmaker Jeremy Tam said if pro-establishment lawmakers think they are “off the hook”, they can press on until they get sanctioned.