MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Foreign ministers of the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia have condemned the arrest of more than 50 democracy activists in Hong Kong last week in a joint statement calling on China to to respect freedom of the people on the island.
Hong Kong police made the arrests on Wednesday during dawn attacks, the biggest repression since China enacted a security law in 2020, which opponents say is aimed at destroying discord in the former British colony.
“It is clear that the National Security Act is being used to dispel disagreements and opposing political views,” Foreign Ministers said in a joint statement issued by Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
“We call on the central authorities in Hong Kong and China to respect the legally guaranteed rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong without fear of arrest and detention.”
Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy advocates have been arrested as authorities last year’s official vote to overthrow opposition candidates in the by – elections was part of a plan to ‘overthrow the government’.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that Washington could sanction those involved in the arrests and send the US ambassador to the United Nations to visit Taiwan.
(Reported by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; edited by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)