Washington, United States:
US lawmakers have nominated Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement for the Nobel Peace Prize, calling the campaigners a worldwide inspiration as they endure a crackdown by Beijing.
In a letter to the Nobel Committee submitted by the February 1 deadline and released Wednesday, nine lawmakers across party lines cited the estimate that more than two million took to the streets on June 16, 2019.
With Hong Kong obtaining a population of 7.5 million, it amounts to “one of the largest mass protests in history,” mentioned the letter, led by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Representative Jim McGovern, co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China that assesses human rights.
“This prize would honor their bravery and determination that have inspired the world,” they wrote.
“We hope that the Nobel Committee will continue to shine a light on those struggling for peace and human rights in China and we believe the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong is deserving of recognition this year.”
The lawmakers mentioned they anticipated more Hong Kong democracy activists to be convicted in the coming months “for the sole reason of peacefully expressing their political views.”
Beijing final year imposed a challenging safety law that it has used to clamp down on dissent right after the unrest in the monetary hub, which was promised a separate program ahead of Britain handed the territory back to China in 1997.
Among these who have been rounded up incorporate 24-year-old Joshua Wong, one of the city’s most recognizable democracy advocates, who has been charged with subversion.
The lawmakers encouraged that the prize go broadly to all who have pushed for human rights and democracy in Hong Kong considering the fact that 1997.
Elected lawmakers about the globe as effectively as governments, academics and international judges have the appropriate to nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, and suggestions do not imply that they will be chosen.
China place heavy stress on Norway, whose parliament appoints members of the Nobel Committee, right after the prize went in 2010 to jailed dissident writer Liu Xiaobo — who was nevertheless in state custody when he died seven years later.