US lawmakers announce bill supporting Hong Kong ‘freedom and democracy’
US legislators will table a congressional bill to monitor human rights and political development in Hong Kong, describing the city’s freedoms as “under threat” from Beijing.
US legislators will table a congressional bill to monitor human rights and political development in Hong Kong, describing the city’s freedoms as “under threat” from Beijing.
A group of lawmakers including cross-party heavyweights House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Republican senator Marco Rubio announced the Hong Kong Human Rights Democracy Act on Thursday, arguing that Washington must back calls for genuine universal suffrage in the chief executive election in 2017.
“Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms – essential to its relations with the US – are under threat from China,” said Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat and co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
“At this critical time, we must strongly support the universal rights of the people of Hong Kong, including free and fair elections in 2017 and beyond.
“Our bipartisan bill would ensure that the United States can continue to monitor Hong Kong while ensuring that its democracy and freedoms remain a cornerstone of US policy.”
Commission co-chairman and Republican congressman Chris Smith added that “the steady erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy is the concern of freedom-loving people everywhere.”