中方譴責美報告呼籲制裁香港國安法官

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China condemns U.S. report calling for sanctions against Hong Kong security judges

Fri, May 12, 2023 at 2:08 p.m. GMT+1

By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) -China on Friday condemned a U.S. congressional report that called for sanctions against 29 Hong Kong judges involved in the city's national security cases, given their role in "weakening" the rule of law.

The report by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) - which advises Congress - said a national security law China imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 in response to pro-democracy demonstrations had "created a parallel legal system that weakens judicial independence and strips criminal defendants of basic due process protections".

Only judges appointed by Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader have been allowed to hear national security cases, in what the report said was an "opaque" process that had helped "diminish the public’s trust in the judiciary".

"As participants in this system, judges appointed to handle national security cases contribute to these systemic violations," the report said.

It urged the U.S. government to impose sanctions on 29 known national security judges including lower level magistrates and those sitting on the city's highest court.

The Chinese Foreign Commissioner's Office in Hong Kong, however, "strongly condemmed" the report in a statement, and said it had smeared the city's national security law and judicial system.

A Hong Kong government statement said the report was a "shameless, sinister and malicious attempt to put spiteful pressure on judges". It added that Hong Kong's judges "remain independent and impartial", free from any interference, and that Hong Kong's judicial system was "open and transparent".

Hong Kong's judiciary said in a statement that the report was "a flagrant and direct affront to the rule of law".

The Hong Kong government also condemned jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai's son Sebastien Lai, and solicitor Kevin Yam, who testified during a CECC hearing on Thursday.

Hong Kong's legislature recently passed a bill giving the city's leader the right to bar foreign lawyers from national security cases after complaints were lodged against a British lawyer representing Jimmy Lai. 

Chris Smith, a U.S. congressman, said during the hearing that judges and government prosecutors who were "complicit" in the erosion of Hong Kong's rule of law should be sanctioned.

The China-imposed national security law punishes acts of subversion, terrorism, collusion with foreign forces and secession with possible life imprisonment.

The conviction rate in national security cases has been 100 per cent so far. More than 250 people, including some of the former British colony's leading opposition politicians, activists, lawyers and journalists, have been arrested for alleged security offences, with legal proceedings still ongoing.

(Reporting by Jessie Pang; editing by James Pomfret and Mark Heinrich)

Translation

香港（路透社）- 中國周五譴責美國國會的一份報告，該報告呼籲對涉及香港國家安全案件的 29 名香港法官實施制裁，因為他們在 “削弱” 法治方面所担當的角式。

為國會提供建議的中國問題美國國會和行政委員會 (CECC) 的報告稱，中國於 2020 年為應對支持民主的示威, 而對香港實施的國家安全法 “建立了一個平行的法律體系，削弱了司法獨立性， 剝奪刑事被告的基本正當法律程序保護” 。

只有香港親北京領導人任命的法官才獲准審理國家安全案件，報告稱這是一個“不透明”的程序，令致“削弱公眾對司法機構的信任”。

報告稱: “被任命處理國家安全案件的法官, 作為該系統的參與者, 助長了這些系統性違規行為”。

報告敦促美國政府對 29 名知名的國家安全法官實施制裁，包括較低級別的地方法官和該市最高法院的法官。

然而，中國外交部駐香港公署在一份聲明中 “強烈譴責”該報告，稱其抹黑了香港的國家安全法和司法制度。

香港政府發表聲明稱，該報告是 “無恥、險惡和惡意地向法官施加惡意壓力的企圖” 。 它補充說，香港法官仍 “保持獨立和公正” ，不受任何干涉，香港的司法制度是“公開透明”。

香港司法機構在一份聲明中表示，該報告是 “對法治的公然和直接侮辱” 。

香港政府還譴責了被監禁的媒體大亨黎智英的兒子 Sebastien Lai，以及週四在 CECC 聽證會上作證的律師 Kevin Yam。

香港立法機關最近通過了一項法案，在針對代表黎智英的英國律師提出投訴後，賦予該市領導人禁止外國律師參與國家安全案件的權利。

美國國會議員 Chris Smith 在聽證會上表示， “同謀”破壞香港法治的法官和政府檢察官應該受到製裁。

中國實施的國家安全法對顛覆、恐怖主義、勾結外國勢力和分裂國家的行為可處以無期徒刑。

迄今為止，涉及國家安全案件的定罪率為100%。 超過 250 人，包括一些前英國殖民地的主要反對派政治家、活動家、律師和記者，因涉嫌安全罪被捕，法律訴訟仍在進行中。

So, the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China said that the national security law  imposed by China on Hong Kong in 2020 in response to pro-democracy demonstrations had weaken judicial independence. It urged the U.S. government to impose sanctions on 29 known national security judges. I am interested in knowing whether sanctions will be implemented eventually.