UK asylum urged for Hong Kong citizens
Simon Cheng Man-Kit, a former British consulate worker tortured by Chinese secret police, is urging the UK to “grant asylum” to people from Hong Kong as Beijing imposes a national security law in the territory.
The law — to be approved today by China’s parliament, bypassing Hong Kong’s legislature — will criminalise separatism, subversion, terrorism and acts of foreign interference. It would pave the way for China’s ruling Communist Party to quash dissent in Hong Kong under the guise of national security.
“It’s a disaster — I cannot imagine any other scenario worse than this,” Cheng said. He fears the torture that he endured in China last year over Britain’s role in Hong Kong will soon become commonplace. “Once they legalise it, then it will become an undeniable reality,” he said.
He added that British authorities should “grant asylum to Hong Kong citizens and equalise the rights of British National (Overseas) status holders”. British authorities must “take care of the Hong Kong people”, rather than spouting “words [that] are still quite constrained and moderate”.
Since the start of 2019, 13 asylum applications have been filed in the UK by people from Hong Kong, including Cheng’s. A decision on his application is expected next month.
Cheng, a Hong Kong citizen, applied for asylum last year after being “disappeared” by Chinese secret police officers for more than two weeks.
He was subjected to physical torture, psychological intimidation, political indoctrination and repeated interrogations, sometimes by up to 15 men. He was shackled for hours at a time while the nameless men threatened to kidnap him again if he ever revealed his ordeal.
Authorities called him an enemy of the state for working at the British consulate, threatened to charge him with espionage, and demanded he confess that the UK Government was masterminding protests in Hong Kong as a direct challenge to China. For months, Beijing had accused unspecified “foreign black hands” of fomenting unrest.
The UK Government publicly acknowledged Cheng’s treatment and granted a visa for him to arrive in the UK after The Telegraph reported details of his detention. However, the government in Beijing retaliated with a smear campaign against him.
Cheng, who now leads the Umbrella Union, an overseas activist group, said the UK could implement sanctions against China or raise a debate at the United Nations over whether Beijing has breached the 1997 Sino-British Joint Declaration — the handover treaty meant to guarantee Hong Kong’s unique way of life until 2047.
However, that global scrutiny would be too little, too late to diminish Beijing’s encroachment on the city, he said.
“It’s already the end of ‘one country, two systems’,” said Cheng, referring to the territory’s system of governance aimed at preserving its rights and freedoms. “China wants to build the world order themselves, rather than comply with the international order.”