The Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) has issued a statement expressing their concern about the lack of a “full and satisfactory” explanation about the five missing booksellers detained in mainland China.
In lieu of such an explanation, the FCC said China should release the detainees immediately “to prevent further weakening of damaged confidence among the local, international and business communities in the robustness of Hong Kong’s rule of law.”
Furthermore, the FCC said it was “particularly troubled” by the central government’s dismissal of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, who urged for the fair treatment of the booksellers, as well as detained lawyers, activists and journalists.
China’s response, which called the high commissioner’s remarks “irresponsible […] biased, subjective and selective”, illustrates the country’s “contempt” for any international body that “dares to criticise its human rights record”, according to the FCC.
Despite the brief flash of reprehension, the statement rather longwindedly concludes: “The FCC urges the Chinese government to take its international obligations seriously and to engage in good-faith dialogue when legitimate concerns are raised over possible breaches of international legal norms and human rights, such as in the case of the five Hong Kong residents. It should also affirm the right of free speech, including by media and publishers, in Hong Kong, afforded under the city’s effective constitution.”
The FCC’s attempt to condemn mainland authorities comes across as mild in comparison to Sir David Tang’s strongly worded and firmly contemptuous speech on Hong Kong’s future, given just last week in the Club itself.
Tang’s incisive comments addressed not only the case of missing bookseller Lee Bo, but also the detrimental effects of central government’s increasing power over Hong Kong in general. A video of the speech, boldly prefaced with a disclaimer distancing the Club from Tang’s views, can be viewed here.
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