China - 4 September 2023 Meeting Highlights

Nabila Hanson (Amnesty UK regional coordinator for China and East Asia and Country coordinator for China and Taiwan) and Howard Zhang (seasoned China watcher with long spells at both the BBC World Service and as BBC News Chinese Editor - and Sutton resident) were our speakers on the subject of Human Rights Violations in China and Hong Kong.

Nabila opened, recounting a number of events which she had been involved with or led. She has been involved in setting up of an Iftar (Iftar is the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims during Ramadan) in Birmingham and explained the advantage of relationships with international communities based in the UK. For example a number have contacts with their 'country of origin' and therefore some influence, often perhaps through money sent back to family members.

Howard explained the geopolitical context and history behind China and its relationship with Hong Kong and Taiwan. He then talked through the experiences of three prisoners:

• Gwyneth Ho (a former BBC Chinese service colleague of Howard's). She had stepped down from journalism to run in the pro-democracy primaries for the subsequently postponed Hong Kong elections. While winning the primary election she was, along with other pro-democracy candidates, disqualified from the subsequent elections and jailed.
• Jimmy Lai, a prominent businessman and leader of the Hong Kong protests, subjected to repeated harassment and now imprisonment for the expression of his views
• Chow Hang-Tung, a successful lawyer imprisoned in connection with Tiananmen Square vigils (Chow has been an Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience and the group have written on her behalf a number of times).

Howard indicated that about one million Hong Kongers had left the country since the Chinese clampdown. About 200,000 had come to the UK with a large population in Sutton.