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Hong Kong Democracy Council

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Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan, non-governmental organization advocating for Hong Kong's autonomy. Formed during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, HKDC was one of the largest groups of exiled activists following the imposition of national security law in 2020 by Chinese government.

Hong Kong Democracy Council
香港民主委員會
AbbreviationHKDC
FoundedSeptember 17, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-09-17)
Founder
Type501(c)(3) organization
84-2856766[1]
FocusDemocratic development in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Americans
Headquarters1301 K Street NW, Suite 300W, Washington, DC 20005, United States
MethodAdvocacy
Executive Director
Anna Kwok
Board Chair
Brian Leung
Websitewww.hkdc.us Edit this at Wikidata

Founding

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HKDC was founded amid the anti-extradition bill protests in 2019 as a platform for diasporic Hong Kongers in the United States to advocate for Hong Kong's democratic development and draw attention to related human rights issues. Founding members of HKDC included Nathan Law, a former Hong Kong Legislative Councilor, Victoria Hui Tin-bor, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, and Hong Kong organizers Anna Yeung-Cheung and Joseph Ng.

The council said their mission is to "protect Hong Kong's basic freedoms, autonomy, and the rule of law",[2][3] and conducted research and political work on "educational outreach, community empowerment, and policy advocacy".[4]

In September 2021, Brian Leung Kai-ping became HKDC executive director and Alex Chow Yong-kang became board chair.[5] In November 2022, Anna Kwok was appointed executive director, with Leung taking over as board chair and Chow remaining on the board.[6]

Advocacy

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Since its launch, HKDC has advocated for the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, PROTECT Hong Kong Act, Hong Kong Autonomy Act,[7][8] economic sanctions and visa bans on Chinese and Hong Kong officials undermining Hong Kong's autonomy and human rights,[9] and additional legislation in Congress related to immigration and refugee protection for Hong Kongers.[10] HKDC's staff, board members, and advisors have also testified in front of the United States Congress.[11][12][13][14] HKDC has also pushed for the broad-based Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act and the immigration-focused Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act.[15]

In January 2021, HKDC assisted in the rescue of five Hong Kong protesters, aged 18–26 who fled by boat to Taiwan in July 2020 soon after the national security law was imposed,[16] by sponsoring the first set of humanitarian parole visas to the US.[17]

Along with 52 Hong Kong diaspora groups and advocacy organizations, HKDC urged President Joe Biden to bar Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee from attending the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in San Francisco,[18] citing concerns about ongoing human rights violations in Hong Kong, as well as existing US sanctions and travel ban imposed on Lee in 2020. Washington Post later reported that the White House had decided to bar Lee from attending the APEC summit.[19] However, John Lee said he received a personal invite to attend the forum, although he decided to skip it citing "scheduling issues".[20]

The group also made a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review focusing on issues under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights raised by the Hong Kong government's restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and the right to political participation.[21]

Research

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HKDC's research team publishes reports on digital authoritarianism, political persecution, and other human rights issues in Hong Kong. The team constructed a database on political prisoners in Hong Kong, tracking arrests that were politically motivated by the security law as well as existing statutes concerning unlawful assembly, incitement, and rioting.[22] According to HKDC, there are 1,591 political prisoners in Hong Kong as of August 2023.[23]

In collaboration with the Open Technology Fund and cybersecurity research firm 7ASecurity,[24] HKDC audited LeaveHomeSafe, Hong Kong government's COVID-19 contact tracing app, which found a number of major vulnerabilities in the LeaveHomeSafe app, contradicting claims by the government that the app had been previously audited to address concerns over users' data privacy.[25]

In a report released in October 2022, HKDC criticized executives that attended Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit were "lending credibility" to the whitewashing campaign of Hong Kong authorities and to John Lee.[26] It also launched a database tracking international companies' cooperation with the Hong Kong government. Soon after, Hong Kong partially blocked HKDC's website,[27] which was condemned by the group for eroding freedom of Hong Kong.[27]

HKDC also alleged the Hong Kong Trade Development Council acts as a "white glove operation" to facilitate the Hong Kong government's activities in the United States, including lobbying against human rights legislation.[28][29] The group published a database with details on interactions between U.S. officials and Hong Kong government lobbyists and the registered lobbyists for the Hong Kong government.[30]

Community engagement

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HKDC has stated an interest in serving as a diaspora-building organization for Hong Kong immigrants and refugees in the United States. In the past, HKDC has funded a number of Hong Kong diaspora-related events and business projects.[31] It hosted screening tour in 20 cities for Revolution of Our Times, a 2021 documentary about the large scale protests that was banned in Hong Kong.[32]

In July 2022, HKDC partnered with Stand With Hong Kong to host a 3-day summit of Hong Kong diaspora activists, human rights researchers, and China policy experts.[33] A second Hong Kong Summit was held in July 2023.[34]

Members

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Executive Director

Board Chair

Advisors

Researchers

  • Jeffrey Ngo

Response

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Chinese authorities imposed sanctions on HKDC and others in July 2021, in response to the implementation of U.S. sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials advocated for by HKDC.[38]

On July 3, 2023, Hong Kong authorities issued an arrest warrant for eight overseas activists including HKDC's executive director Anna Kwok, citing efforts by overseas activists encouraging Western countries to sanction Hong Kong officials.[39] In response, Kwok stated in a press release that she would "not back down" and reiterated a call for the United States to sanction Hong Kong legal officials working on National Security Law cases.[40]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search" Archived 2022-02-21 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ Mahtani, Shibani (17 September 2019). "The Washington Post: Hong Kong activists press U.S. to counter China's erosion of city's freedoms". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  3. ^ Hui, Mary (16 August 2020). "Quartz: "We are all Hong Kongers": How the Hong Kong protest movement became the world's fight". Quartz. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Our Mission". HKDC. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  5. ^ "Former Occupy activist takes helm of Washington-based Hong Kong advocacy group". South China Morning Post. 2021-09-22. Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  6. ^ "Onward and Upward: Team Changes Ahead of 2023". HKDC. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  7. ^ Delaney, Robert (26 September 2019). "SCMP: US bill on Hong Kong democracy, which has angered China, gets approval in House and Senate committees". SCMP. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  8. ^ Oswald, Rachel (15 October 2019). "Roll Call: House passes trio of measures supporting Hong Kong protesters". Roll Call. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  9. ^ Kirby, Jen (17 March 2021). "Vox: US sanctions Chinese officials over the latest crackdown on Hong Kong's democracy". Vox. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration Hearing: Supporting Hong Kong's Pro-Democracy Movement Through U.S. Refugee Policy, December 16, 2020". 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  11. ^ "CSPAN: Hong Kong Democracy Council". Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  12. ^ "Congressional-Executive Commission on China and Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Joint Hearing: China, Genocide, and the Olympics, May 18, 2021". 18 May 2021. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Written Testimony of Anna Kwok" (PDF). Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  14. ^ "Written Testimony of Anna Kwok, Executive Director, Hong Kong Democracy Council; Mason L. Wong, Research Fellow, Hong Kong Democracy Council" (PDF). Congressional Executive Commission on China. September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  15. ^ "Policy Fact Sheets". HKDC. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  16. ^ Chao, Deng; Wang, Joyu (20 June 2020). "The Wall Street Journal: How Five Hong Kong Protesters Escaped by Speedboat". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  17. ^ Forsythe, Michael (16 January 2021). "The New York Times, Protesters Who Fled Hong Kong Arrive in U.S., Seeking Asylum". New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Open Letter to President Biden on Sanctioned John Lee's Potential Entry Into the U.S." HKDC. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  19. ^ Nakashima, Ellen; Mahtani, Shibani (2023-07-28). "Biden, testing Xi, will bar Hong Kong's leader from economic summit". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  20. ^ "Hong Kong's John Lee says he received personal invite to attend APEC forum in US, despite sanctions row". HKFP. 2023-11-02.
  21. ^ "International Advocacy". HKDC. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  22. ^ "Political Prisoner Database". HKDC. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  23. ^ "Hong Kong Political Prisoners". HKDC. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  24. ^ "7ASecurity, OTF Red Team Lab partner, completes Blackbox Pentest and Privacy Audit of LeaveHomeSafe App". Open Technology Fund. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  25. ^ "LeaveHomeSafe". www.leavehomesafe.gov.hk. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  26. ^ "Business Not As Usual". HKDC. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  27. ^ a b Hutton, Mercedes (2022-10-26). "Website of NGO Hong Kong Democracy Council partially blocked in city amid fears over erosion of open internet". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Archived from the original on 2023-07-08. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  28. ^ "Hong Kong government 'spends millions' to advance Beijing's interests in Washington". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  29. ^ "The Counter-lobby Confidential". HKDC. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  30. ^ "Airtable | Everyone's app platform". Airtable. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  31. ^ "Community Seed Fund Program". HKDC. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  32. ^ "Revolution of Our Times". HKDC. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  33. ^ "Hong Kong Summit". HKDC. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  34. ^ "Hong Kong Summit 2023". HKDC. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  35. ^ a b c d "Former Occupy activist takes helm of Washington-based Hong Kong advocacy group". South China Morning Post. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  36. ^ "Exiled Hong Kong activists feel strain after bounty imposed on them". Voice of America. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  37. ^ @hkdc_us (19 August 2024). "As of August 19, 2024, Nathan Law is no longer affiliated in any capacity with the Hong Kong Democracy Council. We thank him for the contributions he has made to our organization as convener of the advisory board since our founding in 2019" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  38. ^ Munroe, Tony; Martina, Michael (23 July 2021). "China retaliates with sanctions on former U.S. commerce secretary Ross, others". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  39. ^ Pomfret, James; Pang, Jessie; Pomfret, James; Pang, Jessie (2023-07-03). "Hong Kong police issue arrest warrants for eight overseas activists". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  40. ^ "Anna Kwok on the Arrest Warrant". HKDC. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
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