Jimmy Lai

(asked on 18th October 2023) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of calls by the government of the USA, the EU Parliament and United Nations Special Rapporteurs for the release from prison in Hong Kong of the British citizen Jimmy Lai.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 26th October 2023

As the Foreign Secretary outlined in the latest Six-Monthly Report on Hong Kong, Mr Lai and others have been targeted by the Hong Kong authorities under the guise of national security and his case is highly politicised. The Foreign Secretary raised Mr Lai's case and China's ongoing non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on 31 August during his visit to China. Senior officials have and will continue to raise cases such as Mr Lai's with the Hong Kong authorities. We continue to press for consular access to Mr Lai and diplomats at our Consulate-General in Hong Kong attend Mr Lai's court proceedings. We will continue to bring our international partners together to shine a light on the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, including on individual cases such as Mr Lai's. In September, the UK led a side event at the UN Human Rights Council on media freedom in Hong Kong, supported by 24 other countries. The UK Government has not made any decision on the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission.

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