'US is appalled': Pompeo slams China for arresting activists, says CCP fears 'free speech'

After Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam were jailed by a court, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo deunced move on December 3. In a statement, Pompeo said that US is “apalled” by “political prosecution” in former British colony. He furr lashed out on China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as Hong Kong pro-democracy activist are ‘struggling’ to resist Beijing’s rejection of fundamental rights. Pompeo said that CCP’s “greatest fear is free speech and free thinking” of its own citizens. 

Mike Pompeo said, “ United States is appalled by Hong Kong government’s political persecution of Hong Kong’s courous pro-democracy advocates. use of courts to silence peaceful dissent is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes and underscores once again that Chinese Communist Party’s greatest fear is free speech and free thinking of its own people.”

US Secretary of State furr said that Hong Kong had benefitted from a free as well as an open system that practised peaceful advocacy of citizens including Joshua Wong, Anes Chow, Ivan Lam and Jimmy Lai. Mike Pompeo reiterated that Hong Kong should be able to exercise rights that were “guaranteed” to m under law when it joined China under ‘One Country, Two Systems’. US Secretary of State also said that ir struggle to resist CCP’s rule will stand test of time as “a testament to human spirit”.

“Hong Kong historically benefitted from a free and open system that celebrated peaceful advocacy of citizens like Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, Ivan Lam, and Jimmy Lai...ir struggle to resist CCP’s denial of ir fundamental rights will stand throughout history as a testament to human spirit,” he added.

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Hong Kong pro-democracy activists sentenced

Pompeo lashed out on Chinese Communist Party after a Hong Kong court sentenced prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong among ors for more than 13 and a half months for ‘organising, participating, and inciting' an unauthorised protest outside a police headquarters last year. Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam have received a prison term of 10 and seven months respectively. All three activities had pleaded guilty last week over charges related to 2019 protest.

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