Britain has a responsibility to the freedom fighters imprisoned by the Chinese government

We must support the 12 young protesters held against their will, and stand up against draconian rule before the point of no return

Somewhere in Shenzhen, Andy Li is in a cell. Along with 11 others, Li has been there since 23 August. Intercepted by the Chinese coastguard, this group has been denied contact with their families, access to their chosen legal representatives, and medical treatments. The youngest is just 17 years old.

These young people are pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong. A movement that resurfaced in March last year and, despite its commitment to protesting peacefully, has been met with escalating violence and repression from the government and police. Most recently, this has included the introduction of the sweeping national security law, draconian regulations which prohibit any action or speech against the Hong Kong government by any individual, anywhere in the world. It is these laws that the 12 were fleeing, and under which Andy Li had already been arrested earlier in the year.

Today, protesters will gather in London to show solidarity with these imprisoned young people. They will be joining the global outcry against the arrests, the authorities’ treatment of the detainees and their refusal to return them to Hong Kong where they would, hopefully, face a fairer trial rather than in China where the conviction rate in the criminal justice system is an ominous 99.9 per cent. These young people now face an unknown future and life-changing consequences, just for standing up for their rights.

This case exemplifies the sacrifices that the youth of Hong Kong are making to fight for their freedom. The protest movement has been driven by young people since its inception. A new generation of Hongkongers who are at least as determined as their predecessors to hold on to their fundamental freedoms, rather than sliding into totalitarianism.

Saturday’s protest in London is just one part of the wider fight for freedom in Hong Kong. For 18 months now, Hong Kong’s citizens have been taking to the streets. What started as a protest against extradition to mainland China has turned into an ideological battle for the city’s soul. On the one side is the Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed official administration, and an increasingly aggressive police force. On the other side are tens of thousands of ordinary Hongkongers from different walks of life, united by the belief that their home is more than just an extension of China and that they deserve the basic human rights that we take for granted.

So far, the cause of the detained activists has been primarily picked up by their families and other pro-democracy protesters like the inspirational Grandma Wong. The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong – of which we are proud to be officers – also supports the protesters but this isn’t enough. The bravery of these Hongkongers must be supported by coordinated international action.

Any government which claims to support democracy must impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on senior Hong Kong officials. This will send a clear message that the world is watching, and that Hong Kong cannot abuse its citizens’ rights without consequences. But for the British government there is a particular responsibility as Andy Li and four of the other youths are British National (Overseas) passport holders. The UK is also duty-bound by the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a UN-recognised treaty in which China pledged to uphold certain freedoms in Hong Kong upon its return from Britain in 1984.

Britain cannot abandon its responsibility to these brave young people. They are already paying a high price for standing up for values that we take for granted. The very least we can do is show them that they are not alone.

As British MPs, we call upon foreign secretary Dominic Raab to act decisively and impose sanctions against the key authority figures responsible for the brutal oppression in Hong Kong.  As the young people of Hong Kong have shown, we are stronger united. We must stand together for freedom and against authoritarian rule, before it’s too late.

Alistair Carmichael is a Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland and Sarah Champion is a Labour MP for Rotherham