Lord Alton: Daily Telegraph: Standing up to China
SIR – Alexandra “Grandma” Wong (report, October 19), a fearless 64-year-old campaigner who has spent 14 months being detained without trial on the Chinese mainland, embodies the bravery, determination and resilience of the Hong Kong protesters who have inspired the world.
During her detention she was forced to sing the Chinese national anthem, photographed holding the Chinese flag and had to confess in writing that her activism was wrong. Such behaviour is an all-too-common characteristic of the Chinese authorities’ determination to trample on dissent.
Activists such as Grandma Wong deserve international support, which is why the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong has urged all nations, including Britain, to impose sanctions on those responsible for the treatment of Grandma Wong and hundreds like her. This brave woman has also called for urgent international action on behalf of 12 Hong Kong youths who are being held in prisons on the mainland, and other young people who have been unreasonably detained.
The Chinese Communist Party needs to understand that Grandma Wong and Hong Kong’s grandchildren represent the future, not Tiananmen tanks, coercion, and repression.
Lord Alton of Liverpool
Vice-Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong
London SW1
