Don’t sacrifice us for trade, Hong Kong dissident tells Reeves ...Middle East

A Hong Kong dissident who fled to the UK to escape Chinese persecution has warned the Government not to “turn a blind eye to injustice” while forging closer economic ties with Beijing.

Simon Cheng is among a group of overseas pro-democracy activists that have reportedly had £100,000 bounties for their arrest placed on them by the Beijing-backed Hong Kong security police.

Mr Cheng, 34, who fled to the UK as a refugee, spoke out as Rachel Reeves visited China in an attempt to boost trade with Xi Jinping’s Communist regime.

More than 150,000 Hong Kongers have come to the UK since 2020 after China launched a crackdown under its national security law (NSL) which has led to the arrests of protesters, activists, and notable pro-democracy figures such as Jimmy Lai and Joshua Wong.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has attempted to reset ties with China after a period of frostier relations, while the Chancellor touched down in Beijing in an attempt to reset relations and spark growth.

Mr Cheng, founder of Hong Kongers in Britain, urged the Government to ensure human rights abuses were central in its engagement with China “not sidelined for economic considerations”.

He also insisted trade agreements should include safeguards to ensure UK investments do not contribute to human rights abuses, surveillance technologies, or the suppression of civil liberties.

“While economic cooperation with China may be necessary, it must not come at the cost of empowering an increasingly authoritarian regime,” he told The i Paper.

“Hongkongers in Britain are living proof of the dangers of unchecked authoritarianism. The UK must continue to provide robust support to Hong Kong refugees and use their voices to inform its China policy.

“The UK must work with international partners to reduce economic dependency on China, creating a more balanced global trade environment.

“We urge the UK government to send a strong message: that economic cooperation does not mean turning a blind eye to injustice.

“This mission should serve as a clear reminder to the new Labour government that complacency is no longer an option.

“Instead, it must confront the reality that while China may be too significant to ignore, the Chinese Communist Party’s increasingly aggressive and authoritarian behaviour must never go unchallenged.”

Mr Cheng is among Hong Kong dissidents in the UK who believe they have been followed and harassed by suspected pro-Beijing informants and activists recruited to monitor them.

They include Hong Kongers in the UK hoping to join the British Army who reported being targeted by a suspected undercover Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spy.

In 2021, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after a £10,000 bounty was offered on WeChat for Mr Cheng address.

In one incident last year, he suspects Chinese agents tracked and monitored him in the heart of London’s legal quarter last year.

When asked by reporters in Beijing if closer ties to China carried any risk for the UK, Ms Reeves said: “We need to make sure we have a pragmatic and good relationship with countries around the world. That is in our national interest.

“It’s what our allies around the world do and it’s what I will be pursuing as Chancellor always acting in the national interest while looking to help British businesses export overseas.”

The Treasury said Ms Reeves had explicitly raised the case of British national and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, who has been detained in Hong Kong since 2020.

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But Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international organisation of parliamentarian, said Labour had performed a U-turn on China in its bid to secure closer economic relations.

“The sadness is that in opposition, Labour were strong on China, very forward thinking,” he said.

“When [Lisa] Nandy was shadow Foreign Secretary, and Stephen Kinnock was in that department, the party policy was that there was genocide in the Uyghur region of China against weakness.

“They were pushing the Government to recognise that. Now. we’re seeing them fail to even mention these sorts of concerns and then try to push for deeper bilateral relations with China.

“So it’s an absolute 180 from where they were.”

The Government has been approached for comment.

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