[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 51 (Thursday, March 18, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1655-S1656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                              S. Res. 126


                               RESOLUTION

       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 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;

[[Page S1656]]

       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 ``Sino-British Joint Declaration of 
     1984''), and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special 
     Administrative Region of the 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 rubber-
     stamp 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 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 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
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the crackdown carried out in Hong Kong by the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China, the Government 
     of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the 
     Chinese Communist Party under the illegitimate and arbitrary 
     pretext of national security and notes that the crackdown 
     violates the legal obligations of that Government under--
       (A) the international, legally binding 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 (in this resolution referred to as the 
     ``Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984''); and
       (B) the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative 
     Region of the People's Republic of China, adopted April 4, 
     1990 (in this resolution referred to as the ``Hong Kong Basic 
     Law'');
       (2) expresses solidarity with the people of Hong Kong, 
     including pro-democracy advocates, independent journalists, 
     lawyers, people of faith, and other targeted groups in Hong 
     Kong;
       (3) calls on the United States Government to use all 
     diplomatic means and economic tools available, including 
     targeted sanctions and measures provided for in the Hong Kong 
     Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (Public Law 116-76; 22 
     U.S.C. 5701 note) and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (Public Law 
     116-149; 22 U.S.C. 5701 note), to--
       (A) impose costs on Chinese Communist Party officials, 
     officials of the Government of the People's Republic of 
     China, and officials of the Government of the Hong Kong 
     Special Administrative Region responsible for--
       (i) the criminalization of political dissent under the Law 
     of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National 
     Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (in 
     this resolution referred to as the ``national security 
     law''); and
       (ii) the implementation of the national security law;
       (B) provide refuge and safe harbor to those Hong Kongers at 
     risk for persecution, including by designating such 
     individuals as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian 
     concern;
       (C) demand the immediate and unconditional release of all 
     political prisoners in Hong Kong, including Joshua Wong, 
     Agnes Chow, Jimmy Lai, Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, Lee Cheuk-
     yan, Leung Kwok-hung, Benny Tai, Tony Chung, the Hong Kong 
     12, and all others who have been arrested or detained on 
     account of acts of political expression or speech, and press 
     for all charges against those individuals to be dropped; and
       (D) demand the revocation of the political oaths required 
     of civil servants and candidates for district councilor and 
     the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, the reinstatement of 
     the previously disqualified members of the Legislative 
     Council, and the revision of election laws to ensure 
     consistency with Article 26 of the Hong Kong Basic Law;
       (4) calls on the United States Government, as it 
     contemplates future bilateral or multilateral agreements with 
     the Government of the People's Republic of China, to take 
     into full consideration the fact that the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China is failing to honor its clear 
     obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984; 
     and
       (5) calls on the United States Government to urge the 
     International Olympic Committee to consider relocating the 
     2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing to another suitable host 
     city located outside of China, on account of the flagrant 
     violations of human rights committed by the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party in 
     mainland China, Hong Kong, the Tibet Autonomous Region and 
     other Tibetan areas, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 
     the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and elsewhere.

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