To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong, Inquiry into Media Freedom in Hong Kong: The Case of Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily, published in April 2023; and what steps they are taking to respond to its recommendations.
Answered on
3 October 2023
We welcome the All-Party Parliamentary Group's (APPG) report of 24 April on Media Freedom in Hong Kong. Under the National Security Law, a once free and vibrant press in Hong Kong has been severely diminished. As the Foreign Secretary made clear in the latest Six-monthly Report to Parliament, published on 19 September, Jimmy Lai and others are being deliberately targeted under the guise of national security to silence criticism. The Foreign Secretary has made clear our views on the erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy, rights and freedoms and raised Mr Lai's case at the UN Human Rights Council and with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, most recently on 31 August. We were pleased to host a side event on media freedom in Hong Kong at the UN Human Rights Council on 27 September to consider these issues further.