II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2303 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lai Chee ying (‘‘Jimmy Lai’’), 

Law Wai kwong (‘‘Ryan Law’’), Cheung Kim hung, Chow Tat kuen 

(‘‘Royston Chow’’), Chan Pui man, Cheung Chi wai, Yeung Ching kee 

(‘‘Li Ping’’), and all the men and women who worked for Apple Daily 

in recognition of their commitment to freedom and democracy in Hong 

Kong in the face of the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. SASSE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lai Chee ying 

(‘‘Jimmy Lai’’), Law Wai kwong (‘‘Ryan Law’’), Cheung 

Kim hung, Chow Tat kuen (‘‘Royston Chow’’), Chan 

Pui man, Cheung Chi wai, Yeung Ching kee (‘‘Li Ping’’), 

and all the men and women who worked for Apple Daily 

in recognition of their commitment to freedom and democracy in Hong Kong in the face of the tyranny of 

the Chinese Communist Party. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy in Hong 

3 Kong Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Lai Chee ying (‘‘Jimmy Lai’’) is a Hong 

7 Kong entrepreneur, pro-democracy activist and 

8 founder of Giordano, an Asian clothing retainer, 

9 Next Digital, a Hong Kong-listed media company, 

10 and the popular newspaper Apple Daily. 

11 (2) Lai is a prominent critic of the Chinese 

12 Communist Party and was a leader of Hong Kong’s 

13 2014 Umbrella Movement and has been accused and 

14 tried for his involvement in the 2019–2020 pro-de15 mocracy movement. Lai has been unjustly arrested 

16 on multiple occasions for his criticism of the Chinese 

17 Communist Party. 

18 (3) On August 10, 2020, Lai was arrested on 

19 suspicion of ‘‘collaborating with foreign forces’’ and 

20 the offices of Apple Daily were raided by Hong 

21 Kong police officers. The charges were brought forth 

22 under the Law of the People’s Republic of China on 

23 Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong 

24 Special Administrative Region enacted by the Chi25 nese Communist Party on June 30, 2020. 


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1 (4) In December 2020, Lai was awarded the 

2 ‘‘Freedom of Press Award’’ by Reporters Without 

3 Borders for his role in founding Apple Daily. 

4 (5) On April 16, 2021, after a sham trial, Lai 

5 was sentenced to 14 months in prison for his sup6 port of democracy in Hong Kong. 

7 (6) On June 17, 2021, police again raided 

8 Apple Daily’s news room, seized journalists’ com9 puters, arrested top editors, and froze $2,300,000 of 

10 the paper’s assets. Among the arrested were Next’s 

11 chief executive, Cheung Kim hung, and Chow Tat 

12 kuen (‘‘Royston Chow’’), its chief operating officer, 

13 Law Wai kwong (‘‘Ryan Law’’), Apple Daily’s chief 

14 editor, Cheung Chi wai, the chief executive editor, 

15 and Chan Pui man, deputy chief editor. 

16 (7) On June 23, 2021, Apple Daily announced 

17 its forced closure due to the current circumstances 

18 in Hong Kong. Apple Daily’s lead opinion writer, 

19 Yeung Ching kee, who publishes under the name Li 

20 Ping was also arrested. 

21 (8) Even amidst the raids and arrests, Apple 

22 Daily heroically continued to report on the police op23 eration with reporters writing on their phones after 

24 their computers were seized. 


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1 (9) Apple Daily has, at great cost, dem2 onstrated the importance of maintaining freedom of 

3 speech and of the press in spite of the vicious 

4 authoritarianism of the Chinese Communist Party. 

5 (10) The reporters, journalists, editors, and em6 ployees at both Apple Daily and Next Digital have 

7 exhibited courage and determination in the face of 

8 the Chinese Communist Party’s tyranny and deserve 

9 to be commended by the people of the United States 

10 for their fight for freedom and truth. 

11 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

12 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

13 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem14 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

15 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

16 medal of appropriate design to Lai Chee ying (‘‘Jimmy 

17 Lai’’), Law Wai kwong (‘‘Ryan Law’’), Cheung Kim hung, 

18 Chow Tat kuen (‘‘Royston Chow’’), Chan Pui man, 

19 Cheung Chi wai, Yeung Ching kee (‘‘Li Ping’’), and all 

20 the men and women who worked for Apple Daily in rec21 ognition of their commitment to freedom and democracy 

22 in Hong Kong in the face of the tyranny of the Chinese 

23 Communist Party. 

24 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

25 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 


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1 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec2 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

3 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec4 retary. 

5 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

6 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre7 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

8 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 

9 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

10 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

11 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

12 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are National med13 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

14 Code. 

15 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

16 SALE. 

17 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

18 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

19 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec20 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

21 this Act. 

22 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

23 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 


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1 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

2 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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