Hong Kong activists jailing prompts EU sanctions call

The European Parliament called on Thursday for sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials over the jailing of three activists linked to Tiananmen Square vigils in Hong Kong.

MEPs overwhelmingly backed a non-binding resolution condemning the sentences against Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho. The three were sentenced this month under the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 after large pro-democracy protests.

The resolution called on the European Commission to use the EU's human rights sanctions regime against responsible Hong Kong and Chinese officials. It also said the commission should begin work on suspending Hong Kong's status in the World Trade Organization, where it is a member separate from China.

Hong Kong and Macau were once the only places on Chinese soil that allowed public mourning for those killed on June 4, 1989, when Beijing sent troops and tanks to crush protests calling for political reform around Tiananmen Square. Public commemoration has been effectively banned in the cities in recent years.

Slovak conservative MEP Miriam Lexmann told the meeting that Hong Kong had become a tool of Beijing's foreign policy and “a place where there is no longer any space for democracy”.