Ten UK MPs have expressed support after activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, Alex Chow and the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement were nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
It came two weeks after a cross-party group of US Senators made the nomination.
A Parliamentary motion was tabled last Monday by Fiona Bruce MP, the Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, to publicly express support for the nomination, “in recognition of their peaceful efforts to defend basic freedoms, strengthen democracy and protect autonomy for Hong Kong guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Hong Kong’s Basic Law.”
It urged the House of Commons to encourage the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to give the nomination serious consideration.
The motion gathered support from MPs from across the UK political spectrum, including Kate Hoey, Mary Glindon, Marie Rimmer and Catherine West from the Labour Party, Hannah Bardell from the Scottish National Party, Bob Blackman from the Conservative Party, Gavin Robinson and Jim Shannon from the Democratic Unionist Party, and independent MP Lady Hermon.
Fiona Bruce MP said the Umbrella Movement was “one of the most peaceful and restrained movements of public protest that the world has ever seen.”
“It was led by exceptional young people, some of whom I have met, whose fight for freedom and democracy deserves our full support. I hope the Nobel Peace Prize Committee seriously considers this nomination.”
Benedict Rogers, the chairman of watchdog group Hong Kong Watch, said: “We are delighted that a cross-party group of UK parliamentarians have joined their counter-parts in America in expressing support for the Umbrella Movement’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.”
“They are absolutely right in describing the Umbrella Movement as a whole, and its leaders, as among the most inspiring and courageous peaceful movements for democracy and human rights in recent times, certainly fitting the criteria of the Nobel Peace Prize and in keeping with the values of previous Laureates.”
The Hong Kong activists had said they were honoured to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has expressed regret over the nomination last Tuesday: “Personally, my view is that the Nobel Prize is an international award that is respected by people, so I regret that some foreign politicians have seemingly used such a respectable international award for political interference,” she said.
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