"Transnational Repression by China" — Symposium, Tokyo
- Project
- ACT-013
- Location
- Bunkyo Civic Center, 1-16-21 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- Date
- 24 August 2025
- Partners
- Japan Uyghur Association (日本ウイグル協会)
On 24 August 2025, the Japan Uyghur Association hosted a public symposium at Bunkyo Civic Center titled "The Reality and Challenges of Transnational Repression by China." Lady Liberty Hong Kong participated as a cooperating organisation, with Representative Director Alric Lee presenting on behalf of the Hong Kong community.
The symposium brought together speakers with roots in Uyghur, Tibetan, Southern Mongolian, and Hong Kong communities, each reporting from their own experience on the reality of transnational repression — the pattern by which the Chinese government continues to target individuals who have fled abroad, through harassment of family members remaining in China, surveillance, and coerced disclosure of personal information. Participants called on the Japanese government to enact legislation and take concrete action to address these practices.
Alric Lee presented on the extraterritorial reach of Hong Kong's National Security Law — in particular, the issuance of wanted notices targeting democracy activists abroad, and the direct threats made to the Hong Kong-based family members of overseas activists. "In today's Hong Kong, open exchange of views is almost impossible," he said. "That is precisely why those of us overseas must continue to speak out and make the current situation known."