Czech officials urge government to offer asylum to citizens of Hong Kong facing persecution

Prague, July 8 (CTK) – The Czech center-right opposition TOP 09 has called on the cabinet to offer asylum to inhabitants of Hong Kong facing the threat of persecution based on China’s new security law, TOP 09 leader Markéta Pekarová Adamová told media today.

She said TOP 09 wants to discuss the issue with Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček (Social Democrats, CSSD).

Hong Kong returned from the British to the Chinese administration on July 1, 1997, when Beijing vowed that certain freedoms and autonomies will keep preserved in Hong Kong until 2047, which are unthinkable in the rest of China.

The international community says these autonomies have been grossly violated by the security law which China introduced a week ago and which makes it possible to toughly punish opponents of the Chinese government.

“This is a serious situation, suppression of the freedom of speech, democracy, and human rights,” Pekarová Adamová said, referring to the new Chinese law.

She said it is Czechia’s moral duty to offer aid to the prosecuted advocates of democracy from Hong Kong, if it wants to adhere to the legacy of the first Czech president and dissident Václav Havel and to the policy of human rights protection.

On behalf of TOP 09, Pekarová Adamová called on the Czech cabinet to offer asylum to persecuted Hong Kong people.

“We are interested in meeting Petříček to discuss the opportunities the Czech Republic has in this respect,” she said, adding that the date of the meeting is yet to be set.