Whereas, since its enactment in June 2020, this law has been used by the Government of the People’s Republic of China as a pretext to crack down on legitimate and peaceful expression, including the exercise of freedoms of assembly, speech, and religious belief provided for under the Basic Law, to replace the Hong Kong legislature with individuals loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, and to pass new immigration laws that subject Hong Kong citizens and residents, as well as PRC nationals and foreign nationals, to exit bans in Hong Kong similar to those implemented in mainland China Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China responded to these protests by passing and implementing the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly referred to as the “Hong Kong national security law”) a vaguely defined criminal statute that includes overly broad charges and extraterritorial reach to punish people for exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms Whereas the Hong Kong Police Force used excessive force to try to quell the 2019–2020 protestors, many of whom were under the age of 30 Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has repeatedly undermined Hong Kong’s autonomy since the 1997 handover, including actions which resulted in political protests in Hong Kong, including the Umbrella Movement in 2014, a protest against Beijing’s attempt to reform Hong Kong’s electoral system, and the 2019–2020 protests, which opposed the Hong Kong Government’s attempt to implement an extradition law that would have subjected Hong Kongers to prosecution in mainland China Whereas, in 1997, Great Britain handed Hong Kong over to Chinese rule under guarantees that Hong Kong would become a Special Administrative Region under the “one country, two systems” principle, pursuant to which Hong Kong’s Basic Law would apply and would enshrine “fundamental rights” of Hong Kong residents and a political structure, including an independent judiciary, the right to vote, and freedoms of assembly and speech, among others Condemning Beijing’s destruction of Hong Kong’s democracy and rule of law.
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