European Parliament debates resolution over ‘deterioration’ of media freedoms in Hong Kong
- MEPs reiterate calls for sanctions on the city’s top leadership and propose for the first time a review of the city’s status at the World Trade Organization
- The national security law has shrunk Hong Kong’s free press, MEPs say, and made it ‘impossible’ for human rights groups to work ‘without fear of serious reprisals’
European lawmakers urged the European Commission and EU member states on Wednesday to act over the “deterioration” in media freedoms in Hong Kong, reiterating calls for sanctions on the city’s top officials and proposing a review of Hong Kong’s status at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
During a debate in the European Parliament, MEPs “deplored” the impact of Beijing’s sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, citing the closure of the independent media outlets Stand News, DB Channel and Citizen News as evidence of a shrinking space for the free press.
Noting the shutdown of civil groups including trade unions and legal societies and the departure of Amnesty International from Hong Kong, the resolution said that the law had made it “impossible for human rights organisations to work freely and without fear of serious reprisals”.
“Let’s be clear, we are witnessing a deterioration of the situation in Hong Kong,” said Stella Kyriakides, the EU’s health commissioner, who addressed the parliament on behalf of the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell. Still, Kyriakides did not propose any new course of action.
The parliament was debating a new “urgency resolution” – a late addition to the agenda under an umbrella group of issues considered “breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law”.