Three Lithuanian MPs have called on the parliament, Seimas, to condemn Beijing’s repression in Hong Kong and to refuse to recognise the newly appointed chief executive of the island city.
A resolution drafted by the MPs calls on the Chinese government to release all political prisoners in Hong Kong, including those convicted for taking part in pickets to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre 32 years ago.
The resolution also says that the Lithuanian parliament “deplores the anti-democratic electoral reforms that facilitated the appointment of former security chief John Lee as the leader of Hong Kong in May and refuses to recognise his election as a legitimate democratic process”.
The resolution was drafted by Marius Matijošaitis, the liberal chairman of the Parliamentary Group on Relations with Hong Kong, and as well as Dovilė Šakalienė of the Social Democrats, and conservative Žygimantas Pavilionis.
Calls for sanctions, export restrictions
The parliamentarians also call on the European Union to implement a sanctions mechanism against Chinese and Hong Kong government officials responsible for human rights and international law violations in the city, and on the European Commission to restrict exports of dual-use goods to Hong Kong.
The MPs call on President Gitanas Nausėda and the government to “create a mechanism to facilitate conditions for Hong Kong dissidents seeking political asylum”.
MP Šakalienė told a press conference on Tuesday that the resolution was prompted by China’s violation of the “one country, two systems” agreement with the United Kingdom on Hong Kong.
“A year ago, 12 people were sentenced to 4-14 months in prison for an unauthorised rally, and on December 22, a Tiananmen memorial sculpture, a pillar of shame at the University of Hong Kong, which had stood there for 24 years, was first locked up and then removed altogether,” said Šakalienė.
According to her, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance of China is calling on governments to take “categorical measures” to hold Hong Kong officials accountable, audit their assets, and impose sanctions.
“We have made it very clear that the Chinese Communist Party must be held accountable for its violations of international law in Hong Kong, and that we must honour the memory of those who have suffered atrocities at the hands of the Chinese Communists. We also stress that those who abuse human rights are not free to accumulate wealth and enjoy the privileges of our democracies as international criminals,” she said.
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