Canto-pop singer Denise Ho calls on UN Human Rights Council to remove China over ‘abuses’ in Hong Kong

Invited by two human rights NGOs to address the council, Ho’s two-minute speech is twice interrupted on points of order by China delegate
Singer says one country, two systems is ‘nearing its death’ following ‘years of deceitful promises’ by China

Hong Kong extradition bill

Danny Mok

Published: 9:59am, 9 Jul 2019

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Canto-pop singer and pro-democracy activist Denise Ho Wan-sze called on the UN Human Rights Council to remove China from the body and convene an urgent session to protect Hongkongers, sparking two interruptions by a delegate from Beijing as she gave a short speech on Monday.

Ho, an active participant in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, was invited by NGOs UN Watch and the Human Rights Foundation to speak at a meeting of the 41st session of the council in Geneva.

The council, based in the Swiss city, is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 states responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.

Ho said the Vienna Declaration guaranteed democracy and human rights but they were under serious attack in Hong Kong, a reference to the government’s extradition bill, which would have enabled the transfer of criminal suspects to jurisdictions with which the city does not have a fugitive agreement, including mainland China.

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Two million Hongkongers had taken to the streets peacefully last month in opposition to the now-suspended bill, which would have removed the firewall protecting Hong Kong from interference by the Chinese government, she said.

But police had also used rubber bullets and tear gas against unarmed protesters, she added.

At that point, Beijing’s delegate, Dai Demao, cut in, complaining to council vice-president Harald Aspelund that Hong Kong was part of China and that Ho had challenged the one-China principle in the UN Charter by mentioning the city side-by-side with China.

Aspelund gave Ho a reminder and let her continue.

She said Hongkongers had been angry following years of deceitful promises in China’s “one country, two systems” principle, as seen in the city’s eroded autonomy, the disqualification of six lawmakers, the “kidnapping” of booksellers and the imprisonment of activists, all of which she regarded as signs of Beijing’s tightening grip over the city.

“The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a binding treaty registered with the UN. Yet, after only 22 years, China is denying its obligations. One country, two systems is nearing its death,” she said, a week after the former British colony marked the 22nd anniversary of its return to Chinese sovereignty.

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Then Dai interrupted her again, complaining that Ho was attacking one country, two systems, and asked Aspelund to stop her from using “insulting” language.

Aspelund asked her to take note of China’s point of view and allowed her to continue.

In the conclusion to her two-minute speech, she asked: “Will the United Nations convene an urgent session to protect the people of Hong Kong? Given its abuses, will the UN remove China from this Human Rights Council?”

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