Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC) is a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

–based

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

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advocating for

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

's autonomy. Formed during the

2019 Hong Kong protests Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

, HKDC was one of the largest groups of exiled activists following the imposition of national security law in 2020 by Chinese government.

Founding

HKDC was founded amid the anti-extradition bill protests in 2019 as a platform for diasporic Hong Kongers in the United States to advocate for Hong Kong's democratic development and draw attention to related human rights issues. Founding members of HKDC included

Nathan Law Nathan Law Kwun-chung ( zh, link=no, t=羅冠聰; born 13 July 1993) is a Hong Kong activist and politician. As a student leader, he was chairman of the Representative Council of the Lingnan University Students' Union (LUSU), acting preside ...

, a former Hong Kong Legislative Councilor, Victoria Hui Tin-bor, a professor of political science at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, and Hong Kong organizers Anna Yeung-Cheung and Joseph Ng. The council said their mission is to "protect

's basic freedoms, autonomy, and the rule of law", and conducted research and political work on "educational outreach, community empowerment, and policy advocacy". In September 2021, Brian Leung Kai-ping became HKDC executive director and Alex Chow Yong-kang became board chair. In November 2022, Anna Kwok was appointed executive director, with Leung taking over as board chair and Chow remaining on the board.

Advocacy

Since its launch, HKDC has advocated for the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, PROTECT Hong Kong Act,

Hong Kong Autonomy Act The Hong Kong Autonomy Act is legislation passed by the United States Congress following the enactment in June 2020 by the Chinese Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the Hong Kong national security law. The Act was signe ...

, economic sanctions and visa bans on Chinese and Hong Kong officials undermining Hong Kong's autonomy and human rights, and additional legislation in Congress related to immigration and refugee protection for Hong Kongers. HKDC's staff, board members, and advisors have also testified in front of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. HKDC has also pushed for the broad-based Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act and the immigration-focused Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act. In January 2021, HKDC assisted in the rescue of five Hong Kong protesters, aged 18–26 who fled by boat to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in July 2020 soon after the national security law was imposed, by sponsoring the first set of humanitarian parole visas to the US. Along with 52 Hong Kong diaspora groups and advocacy organizations, HKDC urged President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

to bar Hong Kong

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

John Lee John Lee may refer to: Academia * John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society * John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal * John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), Engli ...

from attending the 2023

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy , economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Following the success of Association of Southeast Asia ...

meeting in San Francisco, citing concerns about ongoing human rights violations in Hong Kong, as well as existing US sanctions and travel ban imposed on Lee in 2020. Washington Post later reported that the White House had decided to bar Lee from attending the APEC summit. However, John Lee said he received a personal invite to attend the forum, although he decided to skip it citing "scheduling issues". The group also made a submission to the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...

Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) that emerged from the 2005 UN reform process.resolution 60/251of 3 April 2006, the UPR periodically examines the human rights performance of a ...

focusing on issues under the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...

raised by the Hong Kong government's restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and the right to political participation.

Research

HKDC's research team publishes reports on

digital authoritarianism Techno-authoritarianism, also known as IT-backed authoritarianism, digital authoritarianism or digital dictatorship, refers to the state use of information technology in order to control or manipulate both foreign and domestic populations. Tactic ...

political persecution Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

, and other human rights issues in Hong Kong. The team constructed a database on political prisoners in Hong Kong, tracking arrests that were politically motivated by the security law as well as existing statutes concerning unlawful assembly, incitement, and rioting. According to HKDC, there are 1,591 political prisoners in Hong Kong as of August 2023. In collaboration with the

Open Technology Fund The Open Technology Fund (OTF) is an American nonprofit corporation that aims to support global Internet freedom technologies. Its mission is to "support open technologies and communities that increase free expression, circumvent censorship, an ...

and cybersecurity research firm 7ASecurity, HKDC audited LeaveHomeSafe, Hong Kong government's COVID-19

contact tracing In public health, contact tracing is the process of identifying people who may have been exposed to an infected person ("contacts") and subsequent collection of further data to assess transmission. By tracing the contacts of infected individua ...

app, which found a number of major vulnerabilities in the LeaveHomeSafe app, contradicting claims by the government that the app had been previously audited to address concerns over users' data privacy. In a report released in October 2022, HKDC criticized executives that attended

Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit The Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit is an annual financial summit based in Hong Kong, organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The inaugural event took place in November 2022. The organisers goal was to discuss challenges and op ...

were "lending credibility" to the whitewashing campaign of Hong Kong authorities and to John Lee. It also launched a database tracking international companies' cooperation with the Hong Kong government. Soon after, Hong Kong partially blocked HKDC's website, which was condemned by the group for eroding freedom of Hong Kong. HKDC also alleged the

Hong Kong Trade Development Council The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 for international marketing dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. The organisation has 51 offices around the world, including 1 ...

acts as a "white glove operation" to facilitate the Hong Kong government's activities in the United States, including lobbying against human rights legislation. The group published a database with details on interactions between U.S. officials and Hong Kong government lobbyists and the registered lobbyists for the Hong Kong government.

Community engagement

HKDC has stated an interest in serving as a diaspora-building organization for Hong Kong immigrants and refugees in the United States. In the past, HKDC has funded a number of Hong Kong diaspora-related events and business projects. It hosted screening tour in 20 cities for Revolution of Our Times, a 2021 documentary about the large scale protests that was banned in Hong Kong. In July 2022, HKDC partnered with Stand With Hong Kong to host a 3-day summit of Hong Kong diaspora activists, human rights researchers, and China policy experts. A second Hong Kong Summit was held in July 2023.

Leadership

Executive Director

Board chair

Members

Board members * Maya Wang * June Lin * Alex Yong-Kang Chow * Joseph Ng Advisors * Nathan Law Kwun-chung (convenor, September 2019 – August 2024) * Sunny Cheung Kwan-yeung *

Andrew J. Nathan Andrew James Nathan (; born 3 April 1943) is a professor of political science at Columbia University. He specializes in Chinese politics, foreign policy, human rights and political culture. Nathan attended Harvard University, where he earned a ...

* Sharon Hom *

Larry Diamond Larry Jay Diamond (born October 2, 1951) is an American political sociologist and scholar in the field of democracy studies. Diamond is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University's main center ...

* Thomas E. Kellogg * Ted Hui Chi-fung Researchers and associates * Jeffrey Ngo * Kennedy Wong * Mason Wong * Ian Ng * Beatrice Wu * Carmen Lau * Huen Lam (Communications Director)

Response

Chinese authorities imposed sanctions on HKDC and others in July 2021, in response to the implementation of U.S. sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials advocated for by HKDC. On July 3, 2023, Hong Kong authorities issued an arrest warrant for eight overseas activists including HKDC's executive director Anna Kwok, citing efforts by overseas activists encouraging Western countries to sanction Hong Kong officials. In response, Kwok stated in a press release that she would "not back down" and reiterated a call for the United States to sanction Hong Kong legal officials working on National Security Law cases.

References

External links

* * {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer, 842856766 501(c)(3) organizations American entities subject to Chinese sanctions Charities based in Washington, D.C. Foreign policy political advocacy groups in the United States Hong Kong 2014 Hong Kong protests 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests Human rights Organizations established in 2019 Political organizations based in the United States