Hong Kong Watch is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in the United Kingdom that was established to monitor the conditions of human rights, freedoms and rule of law in Hong Kong. It was founded by British human rights activist Benedict Rogers on 11 December 2017, two months after he was barred from entering Hong Kong.

History

In Hong Kong, the aftermath of the

2014 Hong Kong protests A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after ...

and Legislative Council oath-taking controversy saw the imprisonment of Hong Kong democracy activists and Benedict Rogers, a British human rights activist, intended to visit them privately. On 11 October 2017, Rogers was barred entry to Hong Kong. He arrived at

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

on a flight from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

but was escorted away by immigration officials and placed on a flight back to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. He had previously been warned by a contact in the Chinese embassy in London that he might be refused entry to Hong Kong. Rogers, who lived in Hong Kong between 1997 and 2002, has criticised what Rogers says is Mainland China's increasing threat to democracy in Hong Kong and has campaigned against the imprisonment of pro-democracy activists

Joshua Wong Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong activist and politician. He served as secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosistō until it disbanded following the implementation of the Hong Kong national security law ...

Nathan Law Nathan Law Kwun-chung ( zh, link=no, t=羅冠聰; born 13 July 1993) is an activist and politician from Hong Kong. As a former student leader, he has been chairman of the Representative Council of the Lingnan University Students' Union (LUSU ...

and

Alex Chow Alex Chow Yong-kang (; born 18 August 1990) is a social activist from Hong Kong and current doctoral candidate in geography at the University of California, Berkeley.Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

demanded an explanation from the Hong Kong authorities and the Central Chinese government.

Hua Chunying Hua Chunying (; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese official and former diplomat serving as spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China since 2012 and as the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2021. H ...

, a spokeswoman for the

Chinese Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China () is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of the Chinese government, responsible for the foreign relations of the People's Republic of China. It is led ...

, later responded that the move was within China's sovereignty and said: "Whether this person's trip to Hong Kong involved an intention to intervene in Hong Kong's internal affairs and judicial independence – he knows very well himself." The following day, Rogers announced he would form a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to monitor the rule of law and

human rights in Hong Kong Human rights protection is enshrined in the Basic Law and its Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap.383). By virtue of the Bill of Rights Ordinance and Basic Law Article 39, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is put in ...

. Hong Kong Watch was launched at a reception hosted in Speaker's House, House of Commons in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

on 11 December 2017. The organisation appointed Johnny Patterson as its founding Director, with Rogers acting as Chair of Trustees It was established on grounds of the belief of the fact that under the

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...

, the United Kingdom has a moral and legal obligation to speak out.

IPAC

In the summer of 2020, the leadership of Hong Kong Watch worked with human rights leaders such as

Luke de Pulford Luke John de Pulford () is a human rights campaigner, particularly in the areas of modern slavery and human rights abuses in China. De Pulford is director and co-Founder of the London-based anti-slavery charityArise He coordinates the Inter-Parl ...

to create the

Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) is an international, cross-party alliance of parliamentarians from democratic countries focused on relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), and specifically, the Chinese Communist Party ...

, a global pressure group, advocating for human rights in China, particularly with regards the

Uyghur genocide The Chinese government has committed a series of ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang that is often characterized as genocide. Since 2014, the Chinese government, under the a ...

and Democracy in Hong Kong.

New appointments in 2020

Benedict Rogers joined the staff team of the organisation in September 2020 as chief executive officer, with Patterson moving to Policy Director. The organisation also brought in veteran Labour party staffer Sam Goodman as senior policy advisor and Hong Kong activist in exile, Joey Siu, as an Associate based in Washington DC.

Blockage in Hong Kong

On 14 February 2022, it was reported that the site had been blocked by

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

s in Hong Kong, including

PCCW PCCW Limited (formerly known as Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited) is a Hong Kong-based information and communications technology (ICT) company. The company is the majority owner of telecommunications company HKT Limited, and also holds a maj ...

CMHK China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited or CMHK (), is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile. The company was incepted in January 1997 and was the first PCS operator to launch such services in Hong Kong. CMHK is currently the largest telecom ...

HKBN HKBN Ltd., commonly known for its subsidiary Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited (), is a Hong Kong-based Internet, communication and telecommunication company. HKBN was established on 23 August 1999, it is one of the largest residential and en ...

Netvigator Netvigator is a residential Internet service provider in Hong Kong, operated as a brand of Hong Kong Telecom, a subsidiary of PCCW. The company did offer iTV, an interactive movie television network that allowed users to watch movies on their T ...

, etc. Hong Kong Watch posted on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that they believed the action was enforced upon order from the police.

Mission

Hong Kong Watch was set up to provide independent, comprehensive analysis and thought leadership on freedom and human rights in Hong Kong.

Protest action at Acropolis of Athens

Three activists, including Hong Kong Watch Associate Joey Siu and Tibetan student Tsela Zoksang, were arrested at the

Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...

on 17 October 2021, the day before the lighting of the

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olym ...

. Siu and Tsela Zoksang first attempted to unfurl a banner to protest the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

in Beijing; after the banner was taken away, they draped the

Tibetan flag Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...

and the Hong Kong Revolution flag over scaffolding at the site and chanted slogans before they were arrested and charged for violating laws on protection of archeological sites. Siu and Tsela Zoksang were released the following day and allowed to leave Greece, but ordered to return in January 2022 to appear in court.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.hongkongwatch.org/ Human rights in Hong Kong Human rights organisations based in the United Kingdom Political organizations established in 2017 2017 establishments in the United Kingdom