| EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS BEIJING OLYMPICS DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT: MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of an urgency resolution on Hong Kong and the closure of Apple Daily. The motion, co-authored by IPAC MEPs including Reinhard Bütikofer, Miriam Lexmann, Engin Eroglu, David Lega and Anna Fotyga, among others, urged representatives of EU Member States to decline invitations to attend the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The motion also called for sanctions on Hong Kong officials responsible for the crackdown and the suspension of extradition treaties between EU states and China. IPAC LEADS SCRUTINY OF HSBC ACTIONS IN HONG KONG: IPAC co-chairs Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP (UK) and Uffe Elbaek MP (Denmark) have written to HSBC Group Chairman Mark Tucker after being refused a meeting to discuss HSBC’s actions in Hong Kong unless certain issues were taken off the table. In a public letter, covered by the Times, the MPs called on HSBC to release frozen assets belonging Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and highlighted reports that HSBC is blocking fleeing Hong Kongers from withdrawing state pension funds by refusing to recognise BNO passports. IPAC PUSHES NEW ZEALAND ‘MAGNITSKY’ EFFORTS: A cross party group of MPs met to discuss pushing for a New Zealand ‘Magnitsky’ human rights sanctions regime, in a meeting hosted by IPAC co-chairs Louisa Wall MP and Simon O’Connor MP. The MPs heard from Bill Browder, leading campaigner for Magnitsky legislation, as covered in the New Zealand Herald. BELGIAN PARLIAMENT CONFIRMS UYGHURS AT SERIOUS RISK OF GENOCIDE: The Belgian parliament voted unanimously to confirm a resolution led by IPAC co-chair Samuel Cogolati MP, passed in the Foreign Relations Committee earlier this year, calling for the Belgian government to act on a “serious risk” of a Genocide taking place against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. UK REVIEWS CHINESE TAKEOVER OF SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURER: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered a review of the takeover of the UK’s largest semiconductor manufacturer by a Chinese owned firm. The move follows interventions from IPAC UK MPs Nus Ghani and Janet Daby and warnings from IPAC Australia Senators James Paterson and Kimberley Kitching, citing supply chain security concerns. |
