30 December 2021
Lord Patten of Barnes, the last British Governor of Hong Kong and a patron of Hong Kong Watch, has today issued a statement in response to the police raid and closure of StandNews and the arrests of StandNews journalists and pro-democracy activists Denise Ho and Margaret Ng.
Commenting on the closure of StandNews and the arrests, Lord Patten said:
“Xi Jinping’s Communist dictatorship in Beijing and its quisling sidekicks in Hong Kong continue their relentless assault on the city’s freedoms. The latest episode is yet a further attack on freedom of speech. As the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, Communists do not seem to understand the difference between journalism and sedition.
In addition to what the British government has said already, along with other democratic governments around the world, I hope the Foreign Secretary will comment comprehensively and explicitly on China’s latest brutal mendacity.
I also hope that the government will now accept the amendment to the Nationality and Borders Bill, tabled by a broad cross-section of Conservatives and those from other parties, to offer a lifeline to young Hong Kongers currently ineligible for the British National Overseas (BNO) scheme, which covers their parents. Many of Beijing’s administration in Hong Kong, for example the Chief Executive and the Chief Secretary, have ensured that members of their own families have British citizenship. It would be an appalling irony if we allow the families of representatives of the Beijing regime in Hong Kong the right of abode in Britain, while not allowing the right of abode for those persecuted by self-serving United Front activists whose record will drown in infamy.”
Source: hongkongwatch.org