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Joey Siu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Hong Kong name, the surname is Siu. In accordance with Hong Kong custom, the Western-style name is Joey Siu and the Chinese-style name is Siu Lam.
Joey Siu Lam
邵嵐
Joey Siu in 2024
Born (1999-04-16) 16 April 1999 (age 25)[1]
North Carolina, United States
Alma materCity University of Hong Kong
OccupationHuman rights activist
EmployerNational Democratic Institute
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese邵嵐
Simplified Chinese邵嵐
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShào Lán
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingSiu6 Laam4

Joey Siu Lam (Chinese: 邵嵐; born 16 April 1999) is an American human rights activist. During her time in Hong Kong as a student in the City University of Hong Kong, she served as spokesperson of the Hong Kong Higher Institutions International Affairs Delegation [zh] (HKIAD) and lobbied internationally on human rights issues during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.

Early life and education

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Siu was born in North Carolina in 1999. At the age of seven, she moved to Hong Kong and attended St. Mark's School.[2][3] She then studied at the Department of Public Policy and Political Science at the City University of Hong Kong. While in college, she served as an officer of the 34th Association of Public Administration Disciplines and became the external vice president of the Interim Committee of the City University of Hong Kong Student Union on 3 June 2019.[4]

Activism

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During the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests against the Government of Hong Kong's introduction of the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill, Siu served as the spokesperson of the Hong Kong Higher Institutions International Affairs Delegation (HKIAD), which was a joint effort of members of student unions of 12 higher education institutions in Hong Kong protesting against the extradition bill in an international level.[5] As spokesperson, she travelled to the United Kingdom, United States, Germany and Switzerland to give speeches and lobby against the extradition bill.[6]

In October 2019, she and another member of the HKIAD traveled to Frankfurt, Germany to meet with members of the European Parliament to discuss follow-up measures for Hong Kong's human rights issues.[7] On 6 November 2019, Siu accepted an exclusive interview with Deutsche Welle's Conflict Zone titled "Hong Kong: Will violence kill the pro-democracy movement?" Siu told Tim Sebastian in the interview that she agreed that demonstrators should try to use peaceful means to express their demands and believed that violence was not a solution to force the government to respond to their demands, but she did not think that the demonstrators' behavior was out of control. When Sebastian asked her regarding the beating of a 49-year-old pro-Chinese demonstrator by protestors and if this was "the way you treat people with different opinions?", she responded by not looking back at Sebastian and said, "well, of course this is not an ideal way." When Sebastian responded to her, "ideal? You don't even condemn it?" Siu said "We don't condemn anything."[8] After the interview was released, it resulted in heated discussions regarding Siu's statements.[9]

Siu and Frances Hui [zh] meeting with U.S. senator Dan Sullivan (2023)

In early June 2020, she became an advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China and policy advisor to Hong Kong Watch. Later that month, she announced her withdrawal from the HKIAD following the passing of the Hong Kong National Security Law in order to avoid tainting her relatives and friends due to her political stance. She stated that she would still actively campaign for human rights in Hong Kong at the international level. In September 2020, following the increase on crackdown of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, she fled to the United States, settling in Washington, D.C.[10][11][2] After settling in the United States, Siu continued to advocate and call attention for human rights issues in Hong Kong, such as Hong Kong 12 and Hong Kong 47.[12][13] On 16 December 2020, she testified at the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary's hearing on Hong Kong.[14]

On 17 October 2021, Siu, a Tibetan-American student and a Vietnamese-American activist protested against the hosting of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China by unfurling the Tibetan flag and a banner with the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests' slogan 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times' at the Acropolis during the Olympic Flame ceremony.[15] They were detained by the Greek Police.[16] Siu was released after being detained for 26 hours while the others were released after 48 hours. Accused of "attempting to pollute, damage, and distort a historical monument", a Greek court acquitted them of all charges on 17 November 2022.[17]

On 6 April 2022, she spoke at the Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in Geneva, Switzerland, and on 18 October 2022, at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Taiwan, she stated that her "situation is to let everyone know how dangerous the national security law is."[18][19] In December 2023, Hong Kong police offered HKD 1 million (US$128,000) bounties for information leading to the capture of five prominent democracy activists based abroad including Siu and wanted for national security crimes. As she holds US citizenship, this made her the first US citizen to be declared a fugitive under the Hong Kong National Security Law.[20][21] In response to the warrant, she stated: "My response to the Chinese Communist regime's intimidation is short: I will never be silenced, I will never back down."[22] She regularly consults with the FBI due to threats and harassment, and fear of transnational repression after the warrant was placed on her.[22]

As of 2024, she serves as a program associate at the National Democratic Institute[23] and an ombudsman of the World Liberty Congress, a global movement of pro-democracy leaders.[22][24]

Publications

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Articles

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  • 5 Steps Joe Biden Should Take to Confront the China Challenge, The Diplomat, 5 December 2020[25]

Testimonies

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References

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  1. ^ "🎂香港監察政策顧問邵嵐生日快樂🎉". Facebook (Hong Kong Watch). Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b Siu, Joey. "The Assault on Freedom of Expression in Asia" (PDF). foreign.senate.gov. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  3. ^ "城大學生會滲「獨」 粗口嵐鋪路謀做「梁天琦2.0」". Takung Pao. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  4. ^ "【逆權運動】20歲的最後一戰 城大邵嵐：香港冇未來，我哋都冇未來". Apple Daily. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  5. ^ "【逃犯條例】11間大專成立學界代表團 促國際關注本港五大訴求". HK01. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  6. ^ "「反送中」不怯場 光復「港女」嬌滴形象". Radio Free Asia. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  7. ^ "大專學界代表團 x 歐洲議會議員". Hong Kong IAD (Facebook). Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  8. ^ Suyak, Frank (6 November 2019). "Activists unwilling to condemn violence in Hong Kong". DW. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  9. ^ "【逃犯條例】大專學界團發言人：相信暴力非迫使政府回應訴求方法". HK01. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  10. ^ "國安法來臨 國際線代表之一邵嵐：抗爭是一輩子的事". HK Feature. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  11. ^ "憂累手足邵嵐 張崑陽退出國際戰線". Apple Daily. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  12. ^ Siu, Joey [@jooeysiu] (3 January 2021). "Day 132. 10 of the #12hkyouths are still in detention in mainland China. 10名港人被囚中國第132日。 #save12hkyouths #bringthemallback" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Siu, Joey [@jooeysiu] (7 January 2021). "New day in Hong Kong" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Hong Kong Watch associate Joey Siu's testimony at the Senate Committee on Judiciary Hong Kong hearing". Hong Kong Watch. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  15. ^ Ho, King Man (18 October 2021). "Tibetan, Hong Kong activists detained by Greek police after Acropolis Olympics protest". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Joey Siu returns to U.S. after being detained for over 26 hours for displaying anti-HK flag at Acropolis in Athens". Dimsum Daily. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Greek court acquits activists over 2021 protest against Beijing Olympics". CNN. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  18. ^ "Joey Siu speaks at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy". Hong Kong Watch. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  19. ^ "人權倡議者邵嵐：港版國安法荒唐外籍人士也難逃". CNA. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  20. ^ Pang, Jessie (15 December 2022). "Hong Kong police expand dragnet on overseas pro-democracy activists". Reuters. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  21. ^ Chen, Nian (16 December 2022). "Hong Kong Activists in Exile Remain Defiant in Face of Bounties". Voice of America. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  22. ^ a b c Okoshi, Masahiro (15 March 2024). "Hong Kong activist Joey Siu describes 'transnational repression' by China". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Statement on the Arrest Warrant Issued by the Hong Kong Government Against Staff Member Joey Siu". www.ndi.org. National Democratic Institute. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  24. ^ Rosen, Armin (10 January 2023). "The Congress to Free the World". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  25. ^ "5 Steps Joe Biden Should Take to Confront the China Challenge". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  26. ^ Siu, Joey (30 March 2022). "Testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  27. ^ "Hong Kong Watch associate Joey Siu's testimony at the Senate Committee on Judiciary Hong Kong hearing". Hong Kong Watch. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
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