III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 126 

Condemning the crackdown by the Government of the People’s Republic 

of China and the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong, including 

the arrests of pro-democracy activists and repeated violations of the 

obligations of that Government undertaken in the Sino-British Joint 

Declaration of 1984 and the Hong Kong Basic Law. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. 

HOEVEN, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. COONS, Mr. COTTON, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

HAWLEY, Mr. MARSHALL, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. RISCH, and Mr. TILLIS) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the crackdown by the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist 

Party in Hong Kong, including the arrests of pro-democracy activists and repeated violations of the obligations 

of that Government undertaken in the Sino-British Joint 

Declaration of 1984 and the Hong Kong Basic Law. 

Whereas, on June 30, 2020, the Government of the People’s 

Republic of China unilaterally enacted the Law of the 

People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 

(in this preamble referred to as the ‘‘national security 


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•SRES 126 IS 

law’’) that banned secession, subversion of state power, 

and foreign interference, charges that were deliberately 

vague and expansive allowing the Government of the People’s Republic of China maximum discretion to criminalize political expression of which it disapproves; 

Whereas the national security law was passed without input 

from the semi-democratic Legislative Council of Hong 

Kong, or from the Hong Kong people more generally, 

and with no other attempt to account for the well-founded concerns of the Hong Kong people regarding the 

sweeping nature of the legislation and its incompatibility 

with Hong Kong’s system of justice and legal protections 

for fundamental rights and freedoms; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China, 

the Chinese Communist Party, and the Government of 

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have applied the draconian national security law arbitrarily to 

conduct a crackdown of unprecedented scope and intensity, criminalizing peaceful protests, political dissent, and 

other forms of nonviolent expression by the people of 

Hong Kong; 

Whereas the objective of the political crackdown is to persecute individuals who have led peaceful pro-democracy 

movements in Hong Kong and to nullify the fundamental 

freedoms and human rights guaranteed to the people of 

Hong Kong under the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People’s Republic 

of China on the Question of Hong Kong, done at Beijing 

December 19, 1984 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘SinoBritish Joint Declaration of 1984’’), and the Basic Law 

of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the 


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People’s Republic of China, adopted April 4, 1990 (in 

this preamble referred to as the ‘‘Hong Kong Basic 

Law’’); 

Whereas, in July 2020, Hong Kong authorities charged 19- 

year-old activist Tony Chung with ‘‘inciting secession’’ on 

account of peaceful political speech that occurred prior to 

the enactment of the national security law, and, in October 2020, arrested and imprisoned Chung, who remains 

incarcerated awaiting trial under the national security 

law; 

Whereas, in July 2020, Hong Kong authorities announced 

that elections for the Legislative Council scheduled to be 

held in September 2020 would be postponed for an entire 

year under the pretense of public health concerns; 

Whereas, in August 2020, the Government of the People’s 

Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party detained 12 Hong Kong activists at sea, 2 of whom were 

juveniles, attempting to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan, and, 

after holding those individuals arbitrarily for 4 months 

and denying them access to lawyers hired by their families, in December 2020, tried them in a secret proceeding 

in Shenzhen, China, and, in January 2021, sentenced 10 

of the 12 individuals to prison; 

Whereas, in November 2020, the Standing Committee of the 

National People’s Congress in Beijing, China, the rubberstamp legislature of the Chinese Communist Party, 

adopted a decision that unilaterally disqualified Hong 

Kong legislators who ‘‘publicize or support independence,’’ ‘‘seek foreign interference,’’ or engage in ‘‘other 

activities that endanger national security,’’ thereby allowing proxies of the Chinese Communist Party in Hong 

Kong to arbitrarily remove any legislator whose views the 


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Party found objectionable, which they immediately did by 

removing 4 pro-democracy legislators; 

Whereas, in December 2020, a Hong Kong court sentenced 

prominent pro-democracy leaders and activists Joshua 

Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam to prison for their 

roles in an ‘‘unauthorized assembly’’ in 2019; 

Whereas, in December 2020, Hong Kong authorities arrested 

the founder of Apple Daily and pro-democracy advocate 

Jimmy Lai on false charges, repeatedly denied him bail, 

and subsequently charged him with colluding with foreign 

forces under the national security law; 

Whereas, in January 2021, Hong Kong authorities arbitrarily 

arrested 53 pro-democracy politicians and subsequently 

charged all but 6 of them with ‘‘subversion’’ under Article 22 of the national security law for simply conducting 

a public opinion poll in July 2020 regarding candidates 

for the Legislative Council; 

Whereas, on February 23, 2021, Hong Kong authorities announced that any candidate for district councilor, the 

lowest level of officials and the only office that is fully 

democratic, must be a ‘‘patriot’’ and take an oath swearing to uphold the Hong Kong Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the Government of the People’s Republic of 

China, and candidates who engage in ‘‘negative’’ behaviors, such as promoting self-determination, composing a 

referendum, or ‘‘seeking to undermine the Hong Kong 

government’s interest and political structure,’’ will be 

barred from election for 5 years; 

Whereas, on February 28, 2021, Hong Kong authorities arrested 47 pro-democracy figures, most of whom are or 

were elected government officials, with ‘‘conspiracy to 


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commit subversion’’ under the national security law for 

organizing and participating in an informal democratic 

primary for the Legislative Council; 

Whereas, on February 28, 2021, Secretary of State Antony 

Blinken stated, ‘‘We condemn the detention and charges 

filed against pan-democratic candidates in Hong Kong’s 

elections and call for their immediate release. Political 

participation and freedom of expression should not be 

crimes. The U.S. stands with the people of Hong Kong.’’; 

Whereas, on March 11, 2021, the National People’s Congress 

in Beijing adopted measures designed to fundamentally 

undo the existing democratic process in Hong Kong; and 

Whereas the people of Hong Kong have repeatedly shown extraordinary dedication to the cause of democracy and 

freedom for more than 3 decades, and almost continuously since 2014, protesting peacefully in the broiling 

heat and pouring rain while often enduring tear gas, 

water cannons, and worse, and have organized their communities, written petitions, tried to stand for office, and 

volunteered for various forms of civic engagement, and 

when the police attacked protesters, other Hong Kongers 

stepped up to serve as medics, legal advisers, and liaisons 

to the protestors’ families: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) condemns the crackdown carried out in 

3 Hong Kong by the Government of the People’s Re4 public of China, the Government of the Hong Kong 

5 Special Administrative Region, and the Chinese 

6 Communist Party under the illegitimate and arbi7 trary pretext of national security and notes that the 


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1 crackdown violates the legal obligations of that Gov2 ernment under— 

3 (A) the international, legally binding Joint 

4 Declaration of the Government of the United 

5 Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ire6 land and the Government of the People’s Re7 public of China on the Question of Hong Kong, 

8 done at Beijing December 19, 1984 (in this res9 olution referred to as the ‘‘Sino-British Joint 

10 Declaration of 1984’’); and 

11 (B) the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Spe12 cial Administrative Region of the People’s Re13 public of China, adopted April 4, 1990 (in this 

14 resolution referred to as the ‘‘Hong Kong Basic 

15 Law’’); 

16 (2) expresses solidarity with the people of Hong 

17 Kong, including pro-democracy advocates, inde18 pendent journalists, lawyers, people of faith, and 

19 other targeted groups in Hong Kong; 

20 (3) calls on the United States Government to 

21 use all diplomatic means and economic tools avail22 able, including targeted sanctions and measures pro23 vided for in the Hong Kong Human Rights and De24 mocracy Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–76; 22 

25 U.S.C. 5701 note) and the Hong Kong Autonomy 


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1 Act (Public Law 116–149; 22 U.S.C. 5701 note), 

2 to— 

3 (A) impose costs on Chinese Communist 

4 Party officials, officials of the Government of 

5 the People’s Republic of China, and officials of 

6 the Government of the Hong Kong Special Ad7 ministrative Region responsible for— 

8 (i) the criminalization of political dis9 sent under the Law of the People’s Repub10 lic of China on Safeguarding National Se11 curity in the Hong Kong Special Adminis12 trative Region (in this resolution referred 

13 to as the ‘‘national security law’’); and 

14 (ii) the implementation of the national 

15 security law; 

16 (B) provide refuge and safe harbor to 

17 those Hong Kongers at risk for persecution, in18 cluding by designating such individuals as Pri19 ority 2 refugees of special humanitarian con20 cern; 

21 (C) demand the immediate and uncondi22 tional release of all political prisoners in Hong 

23 Kong, including Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, 

24 Jimmy Lai, Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, Lee 

25 Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung, Benny Tai, 


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1 Tony Chung, the Hong Kong 12, and all others 

2 who have been arrested or detained on account 

3 of acts of political expression or speech, and 

4 press for all charges against those individuals 

5 to be dropped; and 

6 (D) demand the revocation of the political 

7 oaths required of civil servants and candidates 

8 for district councilor and the Legislative Coun9 cil of Hong Kong, the reinstatement of the pre10 viously disqualified members of the Legislative 

11 Council, and the revision of election laws to en12 sure consistency with Article 26 of the Hong 

13 Kong Basic Law; 

14 (4) calls on the United States Government, as 

15 it contemplates future bilateral or multilateral agree16 ments with the Government of the People’s Republic 

17 of China, to take into full consideration the fact that 

18 the Government of the People’s Republic of China is 

19 failing to honor its clear obligations under the Sino20 British Joint Declaration of 1984; and 

21 (5) calls on the United States Government to 

22 urge the International Olympic Committee to con23 sider relocating the 2022 Winter Olympics from Bei24 jing to another suitable host city located outside of 

25 China, on account of the flagrant violations of 


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1 human rights committed by the Government of the 

2 People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Com3 munist Party in mainland China, Hong Kong, the 

4 Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas, 

5 the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the 

6 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and else7 where. 

Æ 


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