IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1274 

Responding to the promulgation of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, under Article 23 of the Basic Law, by the Hong Kong Special 

Administrative Region Government on March 19, 2024. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 3, 2024 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CARSON, and 

Ms. NORTON) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Responding to the promulgation of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, under Article 23 of the Basic 

Law, by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 

Government on March 19, 2024. 

Whereas the People’s Republic of China (PRC) agreed in the 

Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 that the PRC 

would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong 

in 1997, with the condition that the territory’s capitalist 

system and way of life would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years, enjoying a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defense affairs, that the Basic Law 

of Hong Kong articulates a principle of ‘‘managing Hong 

Kong by Hong Kong people’’, and that the city will ultimately move toward ‘‘universal suffrage’’; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HRES 1274 IH 

Whereas Hong Kong continued to thrive as a Special Administrative Region, under the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ 

framework, with its semidemocratic governance and its 

freedoms of speech and assembly, until the PRC began 

to exercise greater political control over the territory from 

2004 to make democracy increasingly unlikely, in contravention to its previous agreements; 

Whereas the PRC, in 2014, began limiting voting choice for 

Hong Kongers to a list of Beijing-approved candidates, 

which led to the popular protests known as the Umbrella 

Movement; 

Whereas the PRC, without the consent of Hong Kongers, imposed a new National Security Law on Hong Kong in 

2020, which significantly curtailed the ability of Hong 

Kongers to openly express dissent and communicate with 

journalists without fear of political persecution; 

Whereas the Hong Kong authorities, within 2 months of the 

passage of the new national security law, arrested and 

convicted Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and the founder 

of Apple Daily, one of the most popular prodemocracy 

publications in Hong Kong at the time, claiming that he 

had allegedly colluded with foreign forces; 

Whereas the PRC dismantled Hong Kong’s democratic institutions in 2016 and 2020 by disqualifying opposition legislators, and then, in 2021, overhauling the electoral system by sharply reducing the number of directly elected 

seats to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, effectively ensuring that only pro-Beijing politicians could win a seat 

on the Council and further disenfranchising Hong 

Kongers from their ability to seek free and fair representation; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HRES 1274 IH 

Whereas the Hong Kong Legislative Council, now dominated 

by the influence of the PRC through its pro-Beijing 

members, further undermined democratic values by passing the Safeguarding National Security Ordnance, referred to as the ‘‘Article 23 legislation’’, on March 19, 

2024, doing so with extraordinary speed, which will give 

the Government broader authorities to seek out and punish political activists and severely curtail freedoms of 

speech, including that of journalists and foreigners, with 

the threat of heavy prison sentences; 

Whereas the restrictions on basic freedoms have diminished 

the status of Hong Kong as a leading global financial 

hub, which has consequently experienced a massive outflow of foreign capital, weak performance of initial public 

offerings and low trade volume on the Hong Kong Stock 

Exchange, and continued decline of the Hang Seng 

Index; 

Whereas the people of Hong Kong should have the ability to 

exercise basic human rights, such as the freedom of expression, without the fear of political persecution, under 

the laws of a government that represents their collective 

and democratic will through at least 2047, if not further; 

and 

Whereas the international community has responded to the 

passage of the Article 23 legislation with strong condemnation, represented by a letter signed by 90 crossparty international parliamentarians and public figures, 

including 14 Members of Congress: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) stands with Hong Kongers in their demand 

3 to protect their basic human and civil rights and the 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HRES 1274 IH 

1 dignity to freely express themselves without fear of 

2 political persecution; 

3 (2) condemns the passage of the Article 23 leg4 islation and the further erosion of democratic values 

5 and institutions in Hong Kong; 

6 (3) reiterates that Hong Kong laws, including 

7 the Article 23 legislation, do not have jurisdiction in 

8 the United States nor in other countries outside of 

9 the People’s Republic of China; 

10 (4) urges the Hong Kong authorities to— 

11 (A) refrain from an abusive implementa12 tion of national security laws to silence critics 

13 and political opposition; 

14 (B) show deference to the freedoms that 

15 Hong Kongers continue to seek and are guaran16 teed under the Basic Law and the Hong Kong 

17 Bill of Rights Ordinance; 

18 (C) revise and amend the new Article 23 

19 legislation to ensure it is consistent with inter20 national human rights standards; and 

21 (D) vacate the convictions of those pre22 viously charged with the national security law 

23 and expeditiously release all political prisoners; 

24 (5) calls on the President of the United States 

25 to— 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HRES 1274 IH 

1 (A) exercise the authorities under the 

2 Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act 

3 (Public Law 116–76) to employ targeted sanc4 tions against those officials that are complicit 

5 in using the provisions of the Article 23 legisla6 tion, or other legal authorities, to undermine 

7 basic rights and freedoms in Hong Kong; and 

8 (B) provide moral and diplomatic support 

9 to Hong Kongers who face political threats, in10 timidation, or imprisonment; and 

11 (6) encourages other members of the inter12 national community to condemn the process of un13 dermining the freedoms in Hong Kong, in con14 travention to the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 

15 1984, to impose targeted sanctions and to provide 

16 their full support to Hong Kongers. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB