TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Hong Kong pro-democracy movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
The co-chairs of the bipartisan group, Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) posted the letter, addressed to Nobel Peace Prize Committee Chair Berit Reiss-Andersen, on Thursday (Feb. 3, EST).
The CECC defines the movement as "all those who have built and maintained human rights and democracy in Hong Kong since 1997," including those opposing the erasure of rights guaranteed to Hong Kong residents by the Sino British Joint Declaration and their city's Basic Law. The nominees also include those who have been imprisoned, face imprisonment, or have fled to avoid arrest amid the Beijing-controlled government's crackdown.
"This prize would honor their bravery and determination that have inspired the world," the letter states.
Recalling that the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong garnered "overwhelming support and inspired global admiration," the letter points out that the mass protest on June 16, 2019, drew more than two million people, or about 26 percent of the city, into the streets, putting it in the ranks of the largest demonstrations in history.
The letter's authors lament that in response to that historic movement, China's central government passed the now-notorious national security law without the consent of the people of Hong Kong and in contravention of "multiple international laws and the declaration of human rights" — an apparent reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the U.N. in 1948.
The Hong Kong authorities have since "actively suppress[ed] voices for human rights and democracy," with "vaguely defined criminal offenses carrying harsh sentences up to life imprisonment," the CECC says. It cites the arrest of Apple Daily owner Jimmy Lai (黎智英), disqualification of pro-democracy legislative candidates, targeting of teachers for allegedly broaching sensitive topics in class, and arrest of more than 100 activists as examples of the ongoing assault on freedom in the name of national security.
Congress established the CECC in 2000 to "monitor China's compliance with international human rights standards, to encourage the development of the rule of law in the PRC, and to establish and maintain a list of victims of human rights abuses in China." In addition to Hong Kong, the group has also called attention to and advocated action over Chinese Communist Party abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet, and elsewhere within its borders.
Other undersigned members of the CECC include Senators Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Todd Young (R-IN); and Representatives Thomas Suozzi (D-NY), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), and Vicky Hartzler (R-MO).
Since 1901, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to 28 organizations and 107 individuals, with last year's recipient being the U.N.'s World Food Programme. The deadline for submitting nominations was Feb. 1, and laureates will be selected in early October.
