Opinion | How come non-binding resolution looks pathetic in EU Parliament?

By Edward Hei Leung, LegCo Member

The European Parliament recently passed a non-binding resolution, not only criticizing the so-called deterioration of human rights situation in Hong Kong, but also calling for sanctions on the city's top officials. Its declaration, though seemingly in the strongest terms, is nothing more than political window dressing.

Let's start with the parliament itself. Indeed, the same "human right preacher" voted to strip the immunity that protected three Catalan separatist lawmakers from prosecution and possible extradition to Spain. Back to 2017, the time when Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan President, initiated an independence referendum without Madrid's backing. As a result, Spain immediately suspended Catalonia's political autonomy, not to mention the exiled life of Carles Puigdemont and his two colleagues, Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati. If EU Parliament truly respects regional autonomy, why don't it condemn the Spanish government, and protect Catalan separatist lawmakers?

Worse still, even in Edward Snowden's case, EU Parliament continued to struggle until they narrowly passed a resolution by a vote of 285 to 281 in 2015, two years after Snowden received the right of asylum in Russia. Particularly, the Guardian characterized the introduction of measures as largely symbolic. Sad but true, Snowden may be arrested in some EU countries nowadays, since the resolution is not legally binding on EU.

Ironically, these EU lawmakers suffered from divided opinions, even issuing a piece of rubbish paper for Snowden. Perhaps Markus Beckedahl, an Internet policy activist, offers us a glimpse on this unanswered question. He believed that some European member states participated in or at least benefited from US secret services. As a friendly reminder, the UK was still an EU member and looked highly suspicious at that moment. When the British government detained David Miranda, the partner of a Guardian reporter who wrote about Snowden's leaks, did the EU parliament also pass non-binding resolutions to safeguard UK's media freedom?

No matter how the parliament malfunctions, some EU lawmakers repeatedly smear Hong Kong and interfere with Chinese affairs. Let's say the patriot-only principle that becomes serious violations of democratic principles and political pluralism to their eyes. Frankly speaking, I wonder if Spanish government considers Carles Puigdemont as a patriotic leader or accept him as a candidate in Catalan regional election. Everyone in foreign administration must be patriotic. No one can breach that red line, so does Carles Puigdemont.

Besides, the resolution calls for the immediate unconditional release and dropping of all charges against peaceful Hong Kong protesters. On one hand, there are no political prisoners in our city. Protestors are all charged by criminal laws common in other jurisdictions. The so-called peaceful protesters, on the other hand, trash shops, attack innocent citizens, throw petrol bombs and stab police officers. Can EU member states accept all these atrocities without any criminal punishment on protesters? In comparison with their false accusation, the enactment of national security law has successfully brought the territory back on the track of stability and prosperity. The EU Parliament should truly understand what Hong Kong citizens need most after a long period of chaos and instability.

In fact, EU lawmakers understand quite well that the non-binding resolution can only been seen as recommendations for the European Commission and EU member states. No direct actions will result from it. Do they truly love Hong Kong as much as they claim?

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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