Nearly 200 political figures from around the world on Saturday decried Beijing's proposed national security laws for Hong Kong, including 17 U.S. Congress members, as international tensions grow over the proposal to set up Chinese government intelligence bases in the territory.
FILE PHOTO: Former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten in Hong Kong, China November 25, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo
In a joint statement organized by former Hong Kong Governor Christopher Patten and former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, 186 law and policy leaders said the proposed laws are a “comprehensive assault on the city’s autonomy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms” and a “flagrant breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration that returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.
The legislation comes as the relationship between Washington and Beijing frays, with U.S. President Donald Trump blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic.
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