Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Ranking Member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have jointly called for immediate action in response to the CCP's decision to place bounties on five individuals, including an American citizen.
Hong Kong police have expanded a previously established list of eight overseas activists, now considering them fugitives and offering rewards for information leading to their capture. The bounties total HK$1 million (equivalent to $128,000 USD), and the targeted activists include Simon Cheng, Frances Hui, Joey Siu, Johnny Fok, and Tony Choi. These individuals reside in various countries, including the United States, and are wanted for a range of offenses such as collusion with foreign countries, according to a Reuters report.
According to a press release from the Select Committee on the CCP, "CCP-controlled authorities in Hong Kong issued bounties on five Hong Kongers living abroad, including two pro-democracy activists living in the United States, one of whom is an American citizen," said Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi. They further stated that this action "confirms what investigations by the Select Committee have repeatedly revealed - and what the testimony of Anna Kwok and Jinrui Zhang corroborated yesterday — CCP-controlled Hong Kong authorities’ effort through intimidation and harassment to persecute US citizens and residents engaging in peaceful political activism in the United States is unacceptable. Congress needs to take urgent action to address the CCP’s transnational repression, and the Administration must immediately sanction the CCP and Hong Kong officials responsible for the imposition of these bounties."
The Select Committee on the CCP was established under Gallagher's chairmanship with a mandate to counteract the influence of China's ruling party. This bipartisan committee is committed to "working on a bipartisan basis to build consensus on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and develop a plan of action to defend the American people, our economy, and our values". Its members include representatives such as Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), Andy Barr (R-Ky.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Jake Auchincloss (Mass.), among others, according to information from the Select Committee on the CCP.
