Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson
The United States strongly condemns the Hong Kong authorities’ ongoing harassment of family members in Hong Kong of democracy advocates living overseas, who are being targeted simply for their association with their loved ones. In particular, we are concerned about the recent cases of Anna Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Dennis Kwok, Christopher Mung, Nathan Law, and Joshua Wong, whose family members and acquaintances, were detained and questioned by Hong Kong police.
This deliberate campaign to intimidate and silence individuals for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms is a further step in the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong. This is also a form of transnational repression to intimidate and silence individuals abroad and to coerce their return.
We call on the Hong Kong authorities to cease all harassment of the democracy activists’ family members. We also call on the PRC government to respect the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong, as guaranteed by the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
