Support Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act (S.1838/H.R.3289)

The enclosed letter is addressed to the following Congressional leaders individually:

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

SFRC Chairman James Risch

SFRC Ranking Member Robert Menendez

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

HFAC Chairman Eliot Engel

HFAC Ranking Member Michael McCaul

Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney

Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffries

CECC Chairman Rep. Jim McGovern

CECC Co-Chairman Sen. Marco Rubio

For example:

The Speaker of the House of Representatives

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

H-232 The Capitol

Washington DC, 20515

Dear Speaker Pelosi,

As supporters of human rights and democracy, with deep concern for Hong Kong, we strongly urge the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act (S.1838/H.R.3289, introduced in Congress on June 13, 2019. The 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act (PL 102-383) vitally needs updating to meet the escalating crisis that has dominated the news for months. We urge you to move this bill through committee and schedule a vote in your respective chambers on this important legislation without delay.

The Hong Kong Policy Act demonstrated a strong U.S. commitment to human rights and democracy in Hong Kong and acceptance of China’s invitation to treat Hong Kong separately from the rest of China with regard to trade, investment, commerce, immigration and other cultural and educational relations. China committed to this special status in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which allows Hong Kong a “high degree of autonomy,” and guarantees that democracy, the rule of law, and basic human rights will be maintained under the “one country, two systems” model. The Joint Declaration itself guarantees rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, “including those of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of choice of occupation, of academic research and of religious belief.”

Beijing has violated these solemn commitments by eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy and rule of law since the 1997 handover, especially in recent years. Over the same period, the Beijing-appointed Hong Kong government has proven unable or unwilling to safeguard Hong Kong’s autonomy. It has become complicit in undermining basic freedoms. The ongoing onslaught on the rule of law will not stop without the democratic reform promised in the Basic Law. This situation harms not only Hong Kong people but also the city’s vast amount of trade and finance, adversely affecting the U.S. business community –- including 85,000 Americans based in Hong Kong.

We are deeply disturbed by the recent parade of Chinese and Hong Kong government infractions of these basic policies. Beijing’s 2014 White Paper on Hong Kong effectively dismissed the continued applicability of the Joint Declaration. Beijing refused to offer long-promised democratic reforms in 2014-15. Elected legislators were barred from taking up their office in the partially democratic Legislative Council. Select opposition candidates were not allowed to run for office. Pro-democracy protesters faced harsh sentences. A political party was banned, and the Hong Kong government expelled the foreign journalist who hosted the party’s convenor. Most recently, the proposed extradition law would have made anyone living in or transiting Hong Kong vulnerable to China’s highly-politicized criminal justice system –- notorious for human rights abuses and injustice.

These activities have led in recent weeks to massive protests of up to two million people. The government has resorted to repression instead of responding to public concerns. Both the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have allowed and even encouraged abusive police practices to quell the protests, leaving the community in chaos. Requests for an independent investigation have been ignored. Authorities are even credibly suspected of complicity in the beating of dozens of protesters and bystanders by a marauding criminal gang.

The U.S. Government needs additional tools between simply reporting on Hong Kong’s special status or revoking it. The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act expands the policy toolbox in the following ways:

(1) Requiring annual recertification by the Secretary of State of Hong Kong’s autonomy, which adds teeth and vital political judgment to the oversight process.

(2) Requiring Commerce, Treasury, and the State Department to report on whether the government of Hong Kong is adequately enforcing American export laws regarding sensitive dual-use items and U.S. and UN sanctions, which addresses the vital question of technology transfers.

(3) Providing authority to sanction those individuals responsible for suppressing human rights in Hong Kong, which serves to emphasize the core nature of human rights and the rule of law both in U.S. foreign policy and in the success of Hong Kong.

(4) Prohibiting U.S. visa denials for Hongkongers on the grounds of conviction of offences related to the demonstrations, which ensures protection for the guardians of Hong Kong’s autonomy.

(5) Banning travel to the U.S. by those responsible for violations of human rights and other commitments related to Hong Kong, which ensures individual accountability.

(6) Reporting to Congress on those sanctioned by the U.S. Government related to Hong Kong, which better informs congressional decisions going forward.

We are grateful to the members of the House and Senate who have sponsored and co-sponsored the bill, and to the Speaker of the House for expressing her support. We understand the bill is not perfect and appreciate efforts to strengthen and broaden its coverage that can be pursued in the legislative process. We strongly encourage passage.

With highest urgency,

Signed (in alphabetical order), Affiliation (for identification purposes only)

Michael Abramowitz, Freedom House

Jean-Philippe Beja, CERI-Sciences-Po

Lucien Bianco, Ecole des hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris

Teng Biao, the City University of New York

Susan Blum, University of Notre Dame

Annie Boyajian, Freedom House

Anne-Marie Brady, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Eric Brown, Hudson Institute

Kevin Carrico, Monash University

Melissa Chen, Ideas Beyond Borders

Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, Humanity Beyond Borders, Thailand

Huang Ciping, Wei Jingsheng Foundation

Donald Clarke, George Washington University

Jerome A. Cohen, New York University

Sarah Cook, Freedom House

Anders Corr, Journal of Political Risk

Wang Dan, Former Tiananmen Student Leader

Mai'a Davis Cross, Northeastern University

Michael C. Davis, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University

Larry Diamond, Hoover Institute/Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University

Consiglio DiNino, Former Member of The Senate of Canada

John Dotson, Jamestown Foundation

Jim Feinerman, Georgetown University Law Center

Leta Hong Fincher, Columbia University

Martin Flaherty, Princeton University

Charles Foran, Past President, PEN Canada

Edward Friedman, University of Wisconsin

Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of US House of Representatives

Jack A. Goldstone, George Mason University

James C. Hathaway, University of Michigan Law School

Clive Hamilton, Charles Sturt University, Canberra

Henry Li Hengqing, Tiananmen Student Leader

Denise Ho, Hong Kong Singer and Activist

Denise Y. Ho, Yale University

Sharon Hom, Human Rights in China

Victoria Tin-bor Hui, University of Notre Dame

Ho-fung Hung, Johns Hopkins University

Marie Holzman, Solidarité Chine, France

Lionel Jensen, University of Notre Dame

Wei Jingsheng, Chinese Dissident

Anne Kerlan, Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris

Mai Khoi, Vietnamese Singer and Activist

David Kilgour, Former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific

Thomas E. Kellogg, Georgetown University Law Center

Mark P. Lagon, Georgetown University and Friends of Global Fight

Ching Kwan Lee, UCLA

Liane Lee, 1989 Tiananmen Massacre Survivor

Steven I. Levine, University of Montana

Margaret Lewis, School of Law, Seton Hall University

Y. Joseph Lian, Yamanashi Gakuin University, Japan

Perry Link, University of California Riverside and Princeton University

Dimon Liu, Independent Human Rights Activist

Lewis Liú, Chinese in Entertainment / Los Angeles Chinese Film Festival

Winston Lord, Former U.S. Ambassador to China

Dan Lynch, City University of Hong Kong

Alice Lyman Miller, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

James Millward, Georgetown University

Omar Mohammed, Mosul Eye

Peter Moody, University of Notre Dame

Kimberley Cy. Motley, Human Rights Attorney

David Mulroney, Former Canadian Ambassador to China

Andrew Nathan, Columbia University

Margaret Ng, Former Member of Hong Kong Legislative Council

Lynette Ong, University of Toronto

Ann Patterson, Peace People Ireland Executive

Kar-wai Poon, University of Lyon

Rob Precht, Justice Labs

Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, Georgetown University

Orville Schell, Asia Society

Marion Smith, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

Timothy Snyder, Yale University

Dorothy J. Solinger, University of California, Irvine

Xiaokang Su, Exiled Chinese Writer

Mark Anthony Taylor, Macquarie University, Sydney

Anne F. Thurston, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Glenn Tiffert, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Nury Turkel, Uyghur Human Rights Project

Arthur Waldron, University of Pennsylvania

Jeffrey Wasserstrom, University of California, Irvine

Joshua Wong, Hong Kong Protester

Max Wong, University of Hong Kong

Teresa Wright, California State University, Long Beach

Jieh-min Wu, Academia Sinica, Taiwan