A group of 110 British lawmakers have called on Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to conduct an audit of assets held in the United Kingdom by Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials linked to human rights violations in the former colony.
In a letter made public on Friday, the cross-party group of members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords urged Truss to examine property and other assets held by Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials in Britain as a "pathway to introducing targeted sanctions".
"It cannot be right that these Hong Kong officials along with their [mainland] Chinese counterparts who decry 'Western interference' and openly attack the right of the UK to stand by its historic, legal and moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong, at the same time continue to hide their wealth in property in the UK," the lawmakers said in the letter.
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The letter followed a report by the non-governmental organisation Hong Kong Watch highlighting property ownership in Britain by 11 Hong Kong government officials and lawmakers who supported a controversial national security law adopted by Beijing for the city in 2020 following months of anti-government protests.
Critics have said the national security law has stifled public questioning of the government, press freedom and other long-held rights protected under the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution. Since the law's adoption, journalists, activists and religious leaders have faced prosecution for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.
"It is absolutely imperative that anybody accused of human rights violations, including in Hong Kong, is unable to hold assets or property here in the UK," said Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP who helped lead the effort alongside Conservative MPs Tom Tugendhat and Iain Duncan Smith. "We must ask ourselves what it means to be complicit and whether our human rights rhetoric stands up to reality."
The British government has called the national security law a "clear and serious violation" of agreements made ahead of Britain's handover of Hong Kong to Chinese control a quarter century ago.
In response to the law's adoption, Britain suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, barred the sale of arms and crowd control equipment to Hong Kong and mainland China, and opened a new immigration route to Hongkongers who hold British National (Overseas) status.