European Parliament resolution of 7 July 2022 on the arrest of Cardinal Zen and the trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund in Hong Kong (2022/2751(RSP))
Date: 2022-07-07
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: China, Hong Kong, arrest, autonomy, clergy, democracy, fundamental rights, human rights, humanitarian aid, rule of law








C_2023047EN.01020201.xml










7.2.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 47/202






P9_TA(2022)0291
The arrest of Cardinal Zen and the trustees of the 612 relief fund in Hong Kong
European Parliament resolution of 7 July 2022 on the arrest of Cardinal Zen and the trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund in Hong Kong (2022/2751(RSP))
(2023/C 47/15)

The European Parliament,






—


having regard to its resolutions of 20 January 2022 on violations of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong (1), of 8 July 2021 on Hong Kong, notably the case of Apple Daily (2), and of 21 January 2021 on the crackdown on the democratic opposition in Hong Kong (3), and to its other and previous resolutions on China,










—


having regard to the 24th annual report of the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 20 May 2022 on the political and economic developments in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2021 (JOIN(2022)0016),










—


having regard to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (National Security Law), in force since 30 June 2020,










—


having regard to the Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the Chief Executive election in Hong Kong held on 8 May 2022,










—


having regard to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China adopted on 4 April 1990, which entered into force on 1 July 1997 (Hong Kong Basic Law),










—


having regard to the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the question of Hong Kong of 19 December 1984, also known as the Sino-British Joint Declaration, registered by the Chinese and British Governments at the United Nations on 12 June 1985,










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having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948,










—


having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,










A.


whereas the promotion of and respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law should be at the centre of the EU’s relations with China, in line with the EU’s commitment to upholding these values in its external action and China’s commitment to adhering to them in its own development and international cooperation;










B.


whereas on 11 and 12 May 2022, the police arrested the trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund in Hong Kong, which provides humanitarian and financial support to persons injured, arrested or threatened during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill protests — retired Roman Catholic bishop Cardinal Joseph Zen, former legislator Cyd Ho, singer-activist Denise Ho, academic Hui Po-Keung and senior barrister Margaret Ng — on charges of collusion with foreign forces (Article 29 of the National Security Law);










C.


whereas some 10 000 people have been arrested by the Hong Kong authorities since the 2019 protests; whereas 2 500 people have been prosecuted and more than 1 100 people have been convicted; whereas as of 28 March 2022, nearly 200 people had been arrested under the National Security Law; whereas at the start of 2022, there were 721 political prisoners in Hong Kong;










D.


whereas the 24th annual report of the Commission and the High Representative covering the political and economic developments in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) in 2021 concludes that the space for civil society is continuing to shrink;










E.


whereas the review by the UN Human Rights Committee of Hong Kong’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is ongoing and is expected to be finalised in July 2022;












1.


Condemns the arrests of Cardinal Joseph Zen, one of the strongest advocates of the city’s pro-democracy movement, and of the other four trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund in Hong Kong, which constitute an attack on the freedoms guaranteed in the Hong Kong Basic Law, including the freedom of religion or belief, particularly following the closure of over 60 civil society groups, and are symptomatic of the continued efforts of the People’s Republic of China to systematically destroy the last remnants of Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms and to suppress the pro-democracy movement; believes that the arrest is a clear demonstration of John Lee Ka-Chiu’s stated intention to oppress all critical voices even more strongly and to further intensify the crackdown;












2.


Calls on the authorities of the Hong Kong SAR to drop all charges against Cardinal Zen and the other four trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund — Cyd Ho, Denise Ho, Hui Po-Keung and Margaret Ng — and to release Cyd Ho; urges the authorities of the Hong Kong SAR to allow the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to resume its financial, legal and humanitarian support of those who benefited from it;












3.


Calls on the Member States to step up efforts to implement the Council conclusions of July 2020, including ‘lifeboat schemes’ for Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and political leaders, for example by facilitating the issuing of emergency visas and providing temporary shelter; calls on the Vatican to give full support to Cardinal Zen and other religious leaders who face persecution or the risk of detention under the national security regime in Hong Kong; further calls on the Vatican to strengthen its diplomatic efforts and its leverage on the Chinese authorities, and to demand that all charges against Cardinal Zen be dropped and an end to persecution and human rights violations;












4.


Underlines that, 25 years since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, when the Chinese authorities assumed sovereignty while promising to respect the city’s freedoms and rights protected in the Basic Law, and two years since the introduction of the so-called National Security Law in Hong Kong, the People’s Republic of China is in continued breach of its obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration to uphold Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ model, the rule of law, and basic human rights as enshrined in the Hong Kong Basic Law and in line with its domestic and international obligations as a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;












5.


Urges the Chinese authorities to repeal the National Security Law completely and to recommit to upholding the Hong Kong Basic Law, which guarantees freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief;












6.


Stresses that the election of John Lee was held in blatant violation of key democratic principles and political pluralism and in disregard of the right of the citizens of Hong Kong to universal suffrage; stresses that Beijing’s electoral reforms and the fact that former Security Minister and police officer John Lee was handpicked for the role of Chief Executive show that Hong Kong’s Government is no longer independent from Beijing under the previous ‘One Country, Two Systems’ model and that all political opposition has been oppressed;












7.


Deplores the decision by the Hong Kong authorities to ban, for the third consecutive year, the annual 4 June Tiananmen Square vigil;












8.


Reiterates its call for the Council to introduce targeted sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (the EU’s Magnitsky-style sanctions) against John Lee and all other Hong Kong and PRC officials responsible for the ongoing human rights crackdown in the city; further reiterates its urgent call for the remaining 10 EU Member States who have not done so to suspend active extradition treaties with the PRC and Hong Kong;












9.


Reiterates its call for the European External Action Service (EEAS) to ensure adequate resources for the European Union Office to Hong Kong (EU Office) so that it can continue conducting and adequately stepping up trial observation, prison visits and human rights monitoring, by releasing public statements, appointing a human rights focal point among its staff for human rights defenders and raising their cases with the authorities at all levels; calls on the EEAS and the EU Office to report regularly on the most prominent trials, as well as on the evolution of the human rights situation in Hong Kong more generally;












10.


Urges the EU Office and the diplomatic personnel of the Member States to do everything they can to provide the human rights activists in Hong Kong with all the support they need and to help safeguard their rights, notably by visiting political prisoners in jail, issuing emergency visas and providing temporary shelter in the Member States to those fleeing Hong Kong; deplores the climate of fear that the National Security Law has generated among Hong Kong civil society, including as a result of the introduction of the arbitrary offence of ‘collusion with foreign and external forces’;












11.


Supports the call issued by 50 United Nations human rights experts to establish a special mandate at the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on human rights conditions across China, including Hong Kong;












12.


Reiterates its call for the Commission and the Member States to review the agreement between the EU and Hong Kong/China on cooperation and mutual administrative assistance in customs matters, the status of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels, and Hong Kong’s seat in the World Trade Organization;












13.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Government and Parliament of the People’s Republic of China, the EU Office in Hong Kong, all consular offices of the EU Member States in Hong Kong, the Holy See and the Chief Executive and Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.






(1)  Texts adopted, P9_TA(2022)0011.

(2)  OJ C 99, 1.3.2022, p. 178.

(3)  OJ C 456, 10.11.2021, p. 242.