European MPs debate actions to punish Hong Kong after Jimmy Lai conviction
Vote in European Parliament to revoke city’s special trade status and on sanctions to take place Thursday evening
European lawmakers have renewed their calls for the bloc’s executive arm to revoke Hong Kong’s special trade status, and to sanction the city’s chief executive and officials to protest against the conviction of former media boss Jimmy Lai on national security charges.
During the debate in the European Parliament on Thursday, Hong Kong time, some MEPs stressed the importance of the EU taking concrete measures in response to the verdict, following a non-binding motion passed in the wake of an earlier national security trial that failed to prompt any action.
Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid, could face life imprisonment as he awaits sentencing after being convicted last month of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to print seditious articles.
“Jimmy Lai is one of the strongest supporters of democracy in Hong Kong … therefore colleagues I would like to call for a strong statement demanding his liberation,” Slovak parliamentarian and EU Co-chair of IPAC Miriam Lexmann said.
“I urge the European Commission to initiate the suspension of Hong Kong’s special status under the [World Trade Organization] and withdraw the credentials of the Hong Kong economic and trade office in Brussels.”