WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, alongside Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Co-Chair, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken following the Hong Kong authorities’ issuance of bounties on pro-democracy advocates, including a U.S. citizen and a U.S. resident. The letter urges Secretary Blinken to impose sanctions on the Hong Kong and CCP officials who placed these bounties and facilitated this flagrant transnational repression.
The lawmakers wrote, “The Hong Kong authorities’ egregious attempt to intimidate and silence U.S. nationals engaged in peaceful political activism in the United States is outrageous and cannot be met with inaction. We urge the administration to take swift action and impose sanctions on the perpetrators of this reprehensible act of transnational repression.”
The lawmakers request that Secretary Blinken determine whether the following Hong Kong officials meet the criteria for sanctions:
- Paul Lam Ting-kwok, Hong Kong Secretary for Justice
- Raymond Siu Chak-yee, Hong Kong Commissioner of Police
- Margaret Chiu Wing-lan, Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Security
- Dick Wong Chung-chun, Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Security
- Bruce Hung Ngan, Senior Superintendent of Police
- Maggie Yang Mei-kei, Hong Kong Director of Public Prosecutions
- Dong Jingwei, Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security
View Chairman Gallagher and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi’s statement on the bounties HERE.
Click HERE to read the letter or read the text of the letter below.
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Dear Secretary Blinken,
On December 14, 2023, Hong Kong authorities, under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), issued five arrest warrants and HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounties on overseas activists accused of violating the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL). Two of said bounties are on a U.S. citizen and a U.S. resident. The Hong Kong authorities’ egregious attempt to intimidate and silence U.S. nationals engaged in peaceful political activism in the United States is outrageous and cannot be met with inaction. We urge the administration to take swift action and impose sanctions on the perpetrators of this reprehensible act of transnational repression. We also urge you to work with Congress to address transnational repression.
The People’s Republic of China committed to maintaining Hong Kong’s autonomy and democracy under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework when Hong Kong was handed over to the People’s Republic of China in 1997. Despite this commitment, the CCP led by General Secretary Xi Jinping has implemented draconian judicial reforms eroding Hong Kong law enforcement’s independence. The CCP has since unabashedly eroded civil liberties and political freedom in Hong Kong through their Hong Kong authorities as proxies.
Lawful pro-democracy protests in the summer of 2019 were met by the CCP’s unilaterally enactment of the draconian HKNSL in 2020 to silence dissent in Hong Kong. The HKNSL is deliberately vague, outlining crimes such as “secession,” “subversion,” and “collusion,” punishable by upwards of life imprisonment. Notably, the HKNSL contains provisions on extraterritorial jurisdiction and paves a legal pathway for Hong Kong authorities to target dissidents and critics anywhere in the world regardless of their nationality or country of residence.
The United States considers the HKNSL to be a brazen breach of the People’s Republic of China’s commitment to upholding Hong Kong’s autonomy and democracy and responded by passing the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and issuing Executive Order 13936, in addition to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, to hold persons eroding Hong Kong autonomy accountable. The United States must not turn a blind eye to the CCP and Hong Kong authorities’ extending their long arm of repression onto U.S. soil and threatening the civil liberties practiced by persons living in the United States. In this context, we request that you determine by January 19th, 2024, whether the following Hong Kong and CCP security officials meet the criteria for sanctions pursuant to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, and Executive Order 13936.
- Paul Lam Ting-kwok, Hong Kong Secretary for Justice
- Raymond Siu Chak-yee, Hong Kong Commissioner of Police
- Margaret Chiu Wing-lan, Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Security
- Dick Wong Chung-chun, Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Security
- Bruce Hung Ngan, Senior Superintendent of Police
- Maggie Yang Mei-kei, Hong Kong Director of Public Prosecutions
- Dong Jingwei, Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security
We appreciate your attention on this important matter and look forward to your response.
