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British MPs call for audit of property and assets held by Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials
- Cross-party group of lawmakers ask UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to pursue action as a ‘pathway to introducing targeted sanctions’
- Unlike the US, Britain did not issue sanctions against individual Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials over controversial national security law
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Chad Brayin London
A group of 110 British lawmakers have called on Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to conduct an audit of assets held in the United Kingdom by Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials linked to human rights violations in the former colony.
In a letter made public on Friday, the cross-party group of members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords urged Truss to examine property and other assets held by Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials in Britain as a “pathway to introducing targeted sanctions”.
“It cannot be right that these Hong Kong officials along with their [mainland] Chinese counterparts who decry ‘Western interference’ and openly attack the right of the UK to stand by its historic, legal and moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong, at the same time continue to hide their wealth in property in the UK,” the lawmakers said in the letter.
The letter followed a report by the non-governmental organisation Hong Kong Watch highlighting property ownership in Britain by 11 Hong Kong government officials and lawmakers who supported a controversial national security law adopted by Beijing for the city in 2020 following months of anti-government protests.
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Critics have said the national security law has stifled public questioning of the government, press freedom and other long-held rights protected under the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. Since the law’s adoption, journalists, activists and religious leaders have faced prosecution for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.
Chad is a UK correspondent reporting on issues ranging from business to Sino-British relations. He joined the Post in 2018 as a senior business reporter focused on finance. He has previously written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.
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