IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1277 
Responding to the promulgation of the Safeguarding National Security Ordi-
nance, 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 4, 2024 
Mr. SCHIFF submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Responding to the promulgation of the Safeguarding Na-
tional 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 pe-
riod of 50 years, enjoying a high degree of autonomy, ex-
cept 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 ulti-
mately move toward ‘‘universal suffrage’’; 
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Whereas Hong Kong continued to thrive as a Special Admin-
istrative 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 con-
travention 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, im-
posed 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 insti-
tutions in 2016 and 2020 by disqualifying opposition leg-
islators, and then, in 2021, overhauling the electoral sys-
tem by sharply reducing the number of directly elected 
seats to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, effectively en-
suring 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 represen-
tation; 
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•HRES 1277 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 pass-
ing the Safeguarding National Security Ordnance, re-
ferred 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 pun-
ish 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 out-
flow 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 ex-
pression, 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 con-
demnation, represented by a letter signed by 90 cross- 
party international parliamentarians and public figures, 
including 14 Members of Congress: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) stands with Hong Kongers in their demand 
to protect their basic human and civil rights and the 
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dignity to freely express themselves without fear of 
political persecution; 
(2) condemns the passage of the Article 23 leg-
islation and the further erosion of democratic values 
and institutions in Hong Kong; 
(3) reiterates that Hong Kong laws, including 
the Article 23 legislation, do not have jurisdiction in 
the United States nor in other countries outside of 
the People’s Republic of China; 
(4) urges the Hong Kong authorities to— 
(A) refrain from an abusive implementa-
tion of national security laws to silence critics 
and political opposition; 
(B) show deference to the freedoms that 
Hong Kongers continue to seek and are guaran-
teed under the Basic Law and the Hong Kong 
Bill of Rights Ordinance; 
(C) revise and amend the new Article 23 
legislation to ensure it is consistent with inter-
national human rights standards; and 
(D) vacate the convictions of those pre-
viously charged with the national security law 
and expeditiously release all political prisoners; 
(5) calls on the President of the United States 
to— 
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(A) exercise the authorities under the 
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act 
(Public Law 116–76) to employ targeted sanc-
tions against those officials that are complicit 
in using the provisions of the Article 23 legisla-
tion, or other legal authorities, to undermine 
basic rights and freedoms in Hong Kong; and 
(B) provide moral and diplomatic support 
to Hong Kongers who face political threats, in-
timidation, or imprisonment; and 
(6) encourages other members of the inter-
national community to condemn the process of un-
dermining the freedoms in Hong Kong, in con-
travention to the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 
1984, to impose targeted sanctions and to provide 
their full support to Hong Kongers. 
Æ 
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