Hong Kong Arrests: Crackdown On Pro-Democracy Protests Draws US, UK Condemnation

Police in Hong Kong recently arrested 14 prominent pro-democracy activists amidst the region's continued anti-government protests. The crackdown has now drawn condemnation from leaders in the U.S. and U.K.

The arrests came on Saturday and included major pro-democracy figures like Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, Martin Lee, Au Nok-hin, Rachel Wong, and media magnate Jimmy Lai. Recently, the Chinese government has drawn criticism for using the pretense of the coronavirus pandemic to crack down even harder on protestors in Hong Kong. The raids that resulted in these new arrests were the largest in the region since June of last year.

“These events show how antithetical the values of the Chinese Communist Party are to those we share in Western liberal democracies,” U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. “These actions – along with its malign influence activity and industrial espionage here in the United States – demonstrate once again that the Chinese Communist Party cannot be trusted.”

This criticism from U.S. government officials comes after President Trump signed a bill in November which put the country’s support behind the Hong Kong protestors.

“… The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to Hong Kong’s way of life and as such is protected in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law,” the U.K Foreign Office said in a statement.

For their part, the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has pushed back against these criticisms.

“It is completely wrong that the U.K. Foreign Office spokesperson has distorted the truth by painting unauthorized assemblies as ‘peaceful protests,’ in a bid to whitewash, condone and exonerate the anti-China troublemakers in Hong Kong,” the office said.

Protests have embroiled the semi-autonomous Chinese territory for months, stemming from a now-withdrawn extradition bill that activists claim infringed on Hong Kong’s independence. Protestors are now calling for expanded voting rights and investigations into police misconduct during recent riots.