With today’s further tightening of the draconian national security law, the city’s few remaining freedoms are being extinguished by Beijing.
The United Kingdom is the birthplace of parliamentary democracy, and home to cherished traditions of civil liberty and human dignity. As British politicians, we have a duty to speak out against injustices that contradict these values.
Thus, this International Women’s Day, it is imperative we turn our attention to the plight of women in Hong Kong, whose rights and freedoms are increasingly under brutal siege by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Women make up a startling 19.7 per cent of all Hong Kong prisoners – the highest proportion of female inmates in the world. We know that almost 50 of these women have been subject to sham charges under the pro-CCP administration, including the Beijing-imposed National Security Law which has criminalised forms of freedom of expression. These women and girls range in age from 15 to 76.
Hong Kong surprisingly has more female prisoners than Iran, where authorities flog women for refusing to cover their hair. While authoritarian regimes across the globe continue to erode women’s rights, Hong Kongers are victims of the efficient, high-tech totalitarianism employed by the CCP. It is hardly a coincidence that Macau, which alongside Hong Kong is a “Special Administrative Region” of China fully under Beijing’s grip, had the third highest proportion of women in prison in 2023.
Take the example of Chow Hang-tung, a human rights lawyer and the former vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the city’s annual Tiananmen Massacre vigils before being forced to disband in 2021. She has spent over 900 days behind bars, having been repeatedly refused bail, all for the so-called “crime” of acknowledging a massacre in which thousands of civilians were slaughtered by Chinese authorities in Tiananmen Square.
Then there is Agnes Chow, a pro-democracy activist who fled to Canada in 2023. Chow, who was listed among the BBC’s list of 100 inspiring Women in 2020, the same year she was convicted of “unlawful assembly” for peacefully protesting, served seven months in a maximum security jail as a “Category A” prisoner where she was imprisoned alongside the most severe offenders, including murderers and other violent criminals. The Hong Kong Chief Executive, John Lee, has now pledged that Agnes Chow will be “pursued for life”.
The arbitrary application of the National Security Law in Hong Kong has further exacerbated the challenges faced by women in the once-thriving city. Women human rights defenders have been targeted simply for exercising their fundamental rights to participate in peaceful activism and democratic processes. Last year the Hong Kong authorities even cancelled a women’s rights march scheduled for the Sunday ahead of International Women’s Day, despite police having previously approved the matter following a risk assessment.
As a signatory to the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Britain has a legal and moral obligation to hold the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities accountable for their actions as they continue to trash Hong Kong’s autonomy, suppressing civil liberties, in direct violation of their agreement. It is high time for the UK to take concrete steps to address these violations, including imposing sanctions on senior Hong Kong and Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses, which the US has already done.
It is not enough for the UK to simply claim it is expressing concern behind closed doors. Tangible action is needed to demonstrate unwavering support for those subject to CCP abuse. With Hong Kong’s government now poised to further subjugate its public sphere with vague definitions of “sedition”, via imminent Article 23 legislation, the time to act is now.
On this International Women’s Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to defending the rights and freedoms of women everywhere, including those in Hong Kong. Their courage and resilience in the face of adversity serve as an inspiration to us all, and we must ensure that their voices are heard, and their rights protected.