[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1277 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1277
Responding to the promulgation of the Safeguarding National Security
Ordinance, 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 National 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 period of 50 years, enjoying a high degree of autonomy, except 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 ultimately move toward ``universal suffrage'';
Whereas Hong Kong continued to thrive as a Special Administrative 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 contravention 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, imposed 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 institutions in 2016 and 2020
by disqualifying opposition legislators, and then, in 2021, overhauling
the electoral system by sharply reducing the number of directly elected
seats to Hong Kong's Legislative Council, effectively ensuring 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
representation;
Whereas the Hong Kong Legislative Council, now dominated by the influence of the
PRC through its pro-Beijing members, further undermined democratic
values by passing the Safeguarding National Security Ordnance, referred
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 punish 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 outflow 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 expression, 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 condemnation, 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 dignity to freely
express themselves without fear of political persecution;
(2) condemns the passage of the Article 23 legislation 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 implementation of
national security laws to silence critics and political
opposition;
(B) show deference to the freedoms that Hong
Kongers continue to seek and are guaranteed 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 international human
rights standards; and
(D) vacate the convictions of those previously
charged with the national security law and
expeditiously release all political prisoners;
(5) calls on the President of the United States to--
(A) exercise the authorities under the Hong Kong
Human Rights and Democracy Act (Public Law 116-76) to
employ targeted sanctions against those officials that
are complicit in using the provisions of the Article 23
legislation, 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, intimidation, or
imprisonment; and
(6) encourages other members of the international community
to condemn the process of undermining the freedoms in Hong
Kong, in contravention to the Sino-British Joint Declaration of
1984, to impose targeted sanctions and to provide their full
support to Hong Kongers.
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