US lawmakers have nominated Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement for the
Nobel peace prize, calling the campaigners a global inspiration in the face of a crackdown by Beijing. In a letter to the Nobel committee released on Wednesday, nine lawmakers across party lines cited the estimate that more than two million people took to the streets on 16 June 2019. Given
Hong Kong has a population of 7.5 million, it amounts to “one of the largest mass protests in history”, said the letter, led by Republican senator Marco Rubio and Democratic representative Jim McGovern, co-chairs of the congressional-executive commission on China which assesses human rights.
“This prize would honour their bravery and determination that have inspired the world,” they wrote. “We hope that the Nobel committee will continue to shine a light on those struggling for peace and human rights in
China and we believe the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong is deserving of recognition this year.”
The lawmakers said they expected more Hong Kong democracy activists to be convicted in the coming months “for the sole reason of peacefully expressing their political views”.
