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Van Hollen, Toomey Urge Pres. Biden to Hold CCP Accountable for Apple Daily Shutdown

Urge the Administration to Enforce Hong Kong Autonomy Act

In the wake of the forced closure of Apple Daily, the last pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are urging President Biden to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable by using the Hong Kong Autonomy Act to identify and sanction individuals and entities responsible.

In a letter to President Biden, the Senators wrote: “The newspaper Apple Daily has long been a voice in support of democracy and individual freedom in Hong Kong. The paper’s founder and owner, Jimmy Lai, has been an outspoken champion for the basic rights of his fellow citizens while the newspaper itself has been a sharp thorn in the side of the CCP leadership, frequently publishing criticism, lampoons, and embarrassing truths about the CCP that could never be printed on the mainland.”

Last month, Reuters reported that Hong Kong’s security chief ordered HSBC and Citibank to freeze Jimmy Lai’s accounts. This week, the security chief ordered Apple Daily’s banks to freeze the newspaper’s assets, directly resulting in its closure. 

“It is our understanding that the orders to the banks were issued in an extrajudicial manner, by a single official outside of the court system, and without any criminal charges or subpoenas,” Van Hollen and Toomey continued. “These orders solidify the impression of many that the rule of law is no more in Hong Kong.”

Section 5 of the Senators’ Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which was signed into law in July 2020, requires the Secretary of State to identify to Congress any foreign person, including foreign businesses, that are “materially contributing” to the “inability of the people of Hong Kong to enjoy the freedom of assembly, speech, press, or independent rule of law.”

“It seems very likely that the breathtaking crackdown on Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily involves numerous foreign persons to whom Section 5 of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act applies. We urge your administration to comprehensively enforce the Hong Kong Autonomy Act in the immediate wake of the injustice imposed upon Jimmy Lai and the forced closure of Apple Daily.”

Full text of the letter can be found here or below.

June 24, 2021

The President

The White House

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write today urging you to use the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (Public Law 116-49) to identify and sanction those persons and entities materially contributing to the assault by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily.

The newspaper Apple Daily has long been a voice in support of democracy and individual freedom in Hong Kong. The paper’s founder and owner, Jimmy Lai, has been an outspoken champion for the basic rights of his fellow citizens while the newspaper itself has been a sharp thorn in the side of the CCP leadership, frequently publishing criticism, lampoons, and embarrassing truths about the CCP that could never be printed on the mainland.

Mr. Lai was recently sentenced to 20 months in prison for the “crime” of publicly protesting the CCP’s ongoing crackdown in Hong Kong. Prior to his sentencing, Apple Daily published a handwritten letter from Mr. Lai, which read:

"It is our responsibility as journalists to seek justice. As long as we are not blinded by unjust temptations, as long as we do not let evil get its way through us, we are fulfilling our responsibility."

To punish this defiance, CCP leaders hope to not only keep Mr. Lai silent in prison, but to also erase any vestige of his ability to stand up to the mainland’s authoritarianism. And so Hong Kong authorities wish to erase Apple Daily, too.

Last month, Reuters reported that Hong Kong Security Secretary John Lee ordered the HSBC and Citibank branches of Hong Kong to freeze Jimmy Lai’s accounts, which they appear to have done. Then, earlier this week, some 500 policemen raided the Apple Daily’s offices and arrested its executives. Hong Kong’s Security Bureau then ordered Apple Daily’s banks to freeze the newspaper’s assets, directly resulting in its closure. It is our understanding that the orders to the banks were issued in an extrajudicial manner, by a single official outside of the court system, and without any criminal charges or subpoenas. These orders solidify the impression of many that the rule of law is no more in Hong Kong.

The CCP’s jailing of Jimmy Lai and the throttling of Apple Daily constitute obvious and materially significant breaches of the CCP’s promise to uphold the freedom of press in Hong Kong under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and subsequent Basic Law.

Section 5 of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act requires the Secretary of State to identify to Congress any foreign person, including foreign businesses, that are “materially contributing” to the “inability of the people of Hong Kong to enjoy the freedom of assembly, speech, press, or independent rule of law.”

It seems very likely that the breathtaking crackdown on Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily involves numerous foreign persons to whom Section 5 of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act applies. We urge your administration to comprehensively enforce the Hong Kong Autonomy Act in the immediate wake of the injustice imposed upon Jimmy Lai and the forced closure of Apple Daily.