The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution urging the European Council to urgently impose sanctions on Hong Kong officials responsible for the ongoing repression of civil liberties in the city, invoking the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.
The resolution, adopted on September 17 with 459 votes in favour, 12 against and 86 abstentions, strongly condemned the enforcement of Hong Kong’s 2020 National Security Law and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, and called for both laws to be repealed. Parliament asserted that more than 400 people have been arrested and over 180 convicted under the two laws since the beginning of June 2026 — figures cited by the resolution as evidence of what MEPs described as the systematic dismantling of freedom of expression, media freedom, and freedom of peaceful assembly and association in Hong Kong.
The resolution specifically denounced the June 2026 arrest of independent bookseller Leticia Wong Man-huen, the sentencing of veteran activists Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho, and the 20-year prison sentence handed to 78-year-old British citizen Jimmy Lai. It called for all charges against these individuals to be dropped and for the release of all political prisoners in Hong Kong, insisting that human rights, media freedom and the rule of law must be central to EU-China relations. The Free China Movement has previously condemned the sentences handed to Chow, Lee and Ho.
Hong Kong Watch policy director Megan Khoo said the vote “sends an unambiguous message: the international community will not look away as Hong Kong’s national security laws continue to be used to silence journalists, booksellers, and pro-democracy activists,” adding that “the EU must now follow through with real sanctions, not just words.”
The resolution also urged the European Commission to consider additional measures, including sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials deemed responsible for the violations and a review of Hong Kong’s separate membership in the World Trade Organization.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Mission to the European Union denounced the resolution as interference in China’s internal affairs and defended Hong Kong’s judicial system as upholding the rule of law, urging Parliament to respect China’s sovereignty and the judicial processes of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The Hong Kong government separately issued a forceful rebuttal, rejecting sanctions threats as “gross interference in China’s internal affairs” and insisting that rights and freedoms — including press, speech and publication — are protected under the law. It said critics who use the Jimmy Lai case to attack Hong Kong’s rule of law were distorting facts, and pointed to the 156 days of public hearings, some 2,220 exhibits examined, and Lai’s 52 days of testimony in the trial, noting that Lai has chosen not to appeal his conviction or sentence. A recent independent report found that Stanley Prison guards had rehearsed procedures in case Lai dies in custody.
The vote lands during a consequential week for Hong Kong advocacy: a bipartisan U.S. bill, the Jimmy Lai Hong Kong Political Prisoner Accountability Act, was introduced in Congress this month, and the Free China Movement maintains a directory of Hong Kong political prisoners.
Sources
- Hong Kong Watch: “European Parliament calls for sanctions on Hong Kong officials over arbitrary detentions and crackdown on fundamental freedoms” (Sept 17, 2026) — hongkongwatch.org
- Legal News Feed: “EU Parliament Urges Sanctions on Hong Kong Officials over Human Rights Violations” (Sept 21, 2026; cites JURIST) — legalnewsfeed.com
- Dim Sum Daily: “HKSAR condemns US and western smears over Jimmy Lai case and rejects sanctions” (Sept 17, 2026 — HKSAR government rebuttal) — dimsumdaily.hk