STATEMENT BY EIGHT GROUPS OF HONGKONGERS IN EUROPE CALLING FOR NON-RECOGNITION OF THE 6TH HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE ELECTION

We, eight groups of Hongkongers in Europe,  call on the European governments and parliaments not to recognize the upcoming Hong Kong Chief Executive Election scheduled on 8th May.

On 8th May 2022, only one candidate will be “running” for the Hong Kong Chief Executive Election. With 1,462 members, hand-picked by China’s Central People’s Government and voted for by just 4,380 Hong Kong voters, the Electoral Committee will assume representation of 7.4 million Hongkongers to approve this one man election. .

After postponing the Election for almost two months, under the Beijing-imposed electoral system overhaul in 2021, the Chief Executive Election has never been less democratic. Instead of introducing universal suffrage to Hongkongers as enshrined in Article 45 of the Chinese-drafted Hong Kong Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, the Chinese Communist Party installed 300 Beijing loyalists as the ‘fifth sector’ of the Election Committee, including 190 Chinese National People’s Congress members to tighten control of the election approval rate. 

Looking beyond the voting day, the  Election Committee is itself equally undemocratic. People who elect the members of the Election Committee do not represent the genuine voice of Hongkongers. Under the new system, following the promulgation of the Beijing penned 2020 National Security Law, the number of registered voters for the Committee has dropped by 97% from 247,000 voters in 2016 to a little over 7,800 voters in 2021.   

We urge our respective governments and parliaments not to recognize the new Hong Kong Chief Executive following the Election on 8th May. As the head of the Hong Kong Government, the new leader will be nothing more than a dormant figure controlled by Beijing With this election, we must face the reality that Hong Kong has had all semblance of law and order and democracy torn from it and, as a result, ceases to be an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China.

Co-sign

PL4HK

Hong Kong Committee in Norway

Bauhinias For Freedom

Comité pour la Liberté à Hong-Kong

Africa Hong Kong France (AHKF)

Germany Stands with Hong Kong

Stand with Hong Kong EU

Netherlands for Hong Kong