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Hong Kong Alliance is fearless of threats Rejected the National Security Department’s request for information

Posted by on 2021/09/09. Filed under Breaking News,Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

The Hong Kong Alliance made it clear on September 8, declined to submit the Hong Kong alliance members by the Hong Kong police force security requirements, Tuesday afternoon on September 7, the deadline to submit letters police headquarters, to respond to security requirements to disclose the information and relevant certificates, strongly denied is “foreign agents”, And again emphasized the refusal to submit information.

When the “Hong Kong version of national Security Law” was pushed by the Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kong’s limited freedom and democracy were destroyed, “one country, two systems” collapsed, and the society was Mired in white terror, the Hong Kong government’s behavior of using the national Security Law to suppress and suppress political dissent became more and more endless.

On August 26, the National Security Office of the Hong Kong Police force, citing the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law”, sent a letter to the “Hong Kong Citizens’ Support patriotic and Democratic Movement Federation”, on suspicion that the organization is a “foreign agent”, and requested the seven standing committee members of the Federation to provide information on all members and staff of the organization since its establishment by September 7. Provide the contact and activity information of the Chinese and foreign organizations and individuals involved in the organization over the past seven years, including the Foundation for Democracy in America, the Chinese Democratic Academy, the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, and Mark Simon, the personal assistant of the founder of Next Media. The information requested included personal details of the members and staff, length of service, minutes of meetings and details of income and expenditure.

This is the first time the Hong Kong police have invoked section 43 of the national Security Law, which deals with foreign agents, to demand information from pro-democracy NGOs in Hong Kong.

Zou Xingtong, the standing committee member and vice chairman of the association, and others reiterated to the media before entering the police headquarters that the association is not a “foreign agent” and will not provide any information to the police.
According to Hong Kong media, Zou Xingtong, a senior lawyer, once again questioned whether the police had committed a legal error in assuming that they could request information if they had “reasonable grounds to believe” that the Alliance was a “foreign agent”. It also criticized the police for violating the principle of natural justice by failing to provide any reason to believe that the police are a foreign agent.

When Zou was asked if she was arrested for refusing to submit documents, she said, “I want to tell the people of Hong Kong that we will continue to fight. Don’t give in to unreasonable power, don’t give in to the daily big talk (lie), servile life. Live in your own space and follow your conscience as much as possible.”

Even if you give up the fight, the regime will not let you go, she said. Some disbanded groups are still being hounded. The only thing you can rely on is your own strength and the attention of the outside world to continue to do the right thing.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, who has steadfastly enforced Beijing’s will since be taking office, said on Tuesday morning that no one could call themselves a civil society organization if they publicly declared that they would not act in accordance with the law.

Earlier, Hong Kong’s security bureau threatened to “pull back from the brink” and follow up “in accordance with the law” if groups openly refuse to comply with police demands. The Liaison Office also expressed support for what the police called “acting in accordance with the law.”

On September 7, Mr Tsui Hon-kwong, a member of the Standing Committee, applied personally to the High Court for judicial review, requesting that the letter of demand from the police be invalidated, that the committee be declared not to be a foreign agent, and that the police be barred from taking further action until the court orders.
The petition emphasises that the HKTSC is not a foreign agent, but a Hong Kong company, which is not controlled by any foreign government or political organisation and does not act for the benefit of any foreign government or political organisation.
According to the complaint, the police did not mention in the letter what foreign government or political organization it represented or for any reason believed it to be a foreign agent, and merely believing it to be a foreign agent on “reasonable grounds” was not sufficient to require it to hand over information.

The petition also states that the police letter did not mention the relevant charges being investigated by the police, nor did it indicate the relation of the information to any of the charges, nor did it warn the CSG that it might be subject to investigation, as it considered that the DSS had acted contrary to the principle of natural justice.

Xu Hanguang told the press conference that the association was patriotic but was accused of being a foreign agent. The association did not work under foreign instructions, received no money from foreign countries and did not work for foreign interests.

Earlier, the Hong Kong Alliance, which has been supporting democracy movements in mainland China since 1989, held a press conference on September 5. Its vice chairman, Zou Xingtong, stressed that the branch strongly denied being the “foreign agent” suspected by the police. She criticized the police for arbitrarily accusing civil society groups of acting as foreign agents and then citing the implementation rules to request an investigation, with an unlimited backdating period.

Zou, a senior lawyer, also criticized the police for failing to mention any basis for the charges or list the charges in the letter, and for “failing to tell which country or organization the association represents.” She accused the police of being groundless, abusive and unreasonable.

Zou stressed that the association refused to provide information to the National Security Office, “this is the standing committee, to the members, supporters of the least protection.” Mr. Zou criticized the police for instilling fear in civil society, but the JCC would not encourage the authorities to spread fear.

Zou has been held for several days on bail pending trial after being arrested on suspicion of promoting an unauthorized rally for her participation in this year’s June 4 celebrations.

Lee Cheuk-yan, the chairman of the Solidarity, who has been detained for supporting the massive anti-Chinese demonstrations in 2019, was also asked to provide such information. Recipients of the letter have been asked to send the information to the homeland Security Department by Sept. 7, with fines of up to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($13,000) and six months in prison.

Hong Kong’s government has been increasingly aggressive in cracking down on freedom of speech and the press over the past year, after Beijing pushed for a national security law in Hong Kong in late June. Some 150 pro-democracy political and social activists were jailed or prosecuted, Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper for 26 years, was shut down, and its parent company, Next Media, was liquidated. The Education Council, the largest pro-democracy group in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Civil Human Rights Front (RPF), which organizes large-scale demonstrations in Hong Kong on July 1 each year, have also been forced to disband due to the government’s difficulties and pressure or police investigations and repression.

For two consecutive years, the Hong Kong Government, citing the epidemic, banned the Support Association from holding candlelight vigils in Victoria Park on June 4. Its chairman, Lee Cheuk-yan, and vice chairmen, Zou Hing-tung and Albert Ho, were arrested, and several members of its standing committee were forced to resign.

In the violent political atmosphere of Hong Kong society, the Standing Committee of the Hong Kong Federation held a meeting on August 23, and the seven members of the Standing Committee passed a resolution to dissolve the federation by 4 votes in favor and 3 votes against. The final dissolution of the special general assembly needs to vote to decide.

At a news conference On Sunday, Miss. Zou also said the committee was under increasing political pressure, with several members and former members of the standing Committee detained by authorities and unable to reach a consensus on whether to dissolve itself, so only a majority vote was needed to pass the dissolution bill to the general assembly. She said life and death should not be discussed behind closed doors, but with the public. Therefore, the branch association will be in the afternoon of September 25, June 4 memorial hall held a special general meeting to discuss the dissolution of the motion.

Zou Xingtong said that the Hong Kong Alliance has more than 100 members, at least 20 members to attend the general meeting to reach a quorum, unable to attend in person can cast an authorization vote, 75 percent of the members agree to dissolve. She said she would not lower the threshold for dissolution and would donate assets to like-minded groups once the branch association is dissolved.

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