Australia expresses “concern” over Hong Kong conviction of Australian accused of subversion

May 30. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia, Penny Wong, expressed this Thursday her “concern” about the conviction of 14 activists and opponents accused of subversion in Hong Kong, among whom is the Australian citizen Gordon Ng.

“We are deeply concerned by the sentences handed down today against 14 members of the trial against 47 Hong Kong activists, including the conviction of Australian citizen Gordon Ng. We continue to request the Hong Kong authorities for consular access to the convicted man,” he said in a statement. .

Wong has thus indicated that Ng has options to appeal the ruling against him and has confirmed that he has Australian and Hong Kong nationality. The case is related to the holding of an unofficial primary election in the Chinese special administrative region in 2020.

“We have expressed strong objections to the continued and widespread use of national security legislation to detain and pressure democracy activists, opposition groups, media, unions and members of civil society,” he lamented.

In addition, he confirmed that the Government has asked Beijing to “stop undermining freedom of expression in accordance with the recommendations of the Australian Human Rights Committee”, which includes the repeal of the aforementioned Hong Kong national security law.