On International Human Rights Day (December 10), Hong Kong, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Taiwanese groups in the UK gathered outside the proposed site for China’s new embassy at London’s former Royal Mint Court. Protesters denounced China’s application for a “mega embassy,” condemned cross-border repression, and called on the Hong Kong government to immediately release activists Lee Cheuk Yan and Chow Hang Tung. The demonstration also commemorated victims of the Chinese Communist Party’s policies, including at least 160 people who died in last month’s Tai Po Wang Fu Court fire, urging attendees to “remember all lives lost to corruption and tyranny.”
Christopher Mung, Director of the Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor, urged the UK government to block the construction, stressing: “We must not allow a dictatorship to extend its influence or threaten the safety of dissidents living in the UK. This embassy concerns our freedom and security. We cannot let transnational repression be legitimised, it silences people through fear.”
Mung highlighted that Lee, former chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (HK Alliance) and former general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, and Chow, former vice-chair of the HK Alliance, have been held without trial for over 1,500 days, with proceedings repeatedly postponed until January next year. “All they did was to preserve the truth of the June 4 massacre. Fighting for democracy is not a crime,” he said, as demonstrators held posters calling for the immediate release of Lee, Chow, and all political prisoners.
A Uyghur representative spoke about the arbitrary detention of over a million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in so-called “vocational training centres,” which are in reality large-scale internment camps. “If this embassy is approved, it will embolden the regime and threaten Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hongkongers, and Chinese dissidents living in the UK,” he warned. A Tibetan representative added that China has previously set up illegal overseas police stations to monitor and intimidate dissidents, cautioning that expanding influence abroad would worsen repression inside Tibet. He drew attention to Tibetan environmental and community leader A-Nya Sengdra, whose prison term has been extended until February next year.
Mung also addressed the Tai Po Wang Fu Court fire on November 26, which claimed at least 160 lives. “This was not an accident but a man-made disaster,” he said, leading a moment of silence. Tibetan participants lit candles to commemorate all those persecuted by the CCP. Mung noted that residents had repeatedly warned authorities of fire risks and corruption prior to the tragedy, but their appeals were ignored. “Under political repression, Hong Kong no longer has independent civil society groups, media, or political parties to fight for the people.”
He also criticised the government for failing to hold officials accountable, while students and activists calling for independent investigations were arrested under the National Security Law. “We are determined to hold the government responsible and seek justice for the victims. No matter what methods dictators use, the truth cannot be erased,” he said.
Mung cited other tragedies caused by corruption or authoritarian negligence, including the 2022 Urumqi fire during pandemic lockdowns, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake caused by substandard school construction, and industrial accidents where lives were lost due to bribery or oversight. He concluded: “Let us remember all those lives taken and continue to fight for the dignity and safety of those still living.”