An EU report has described continued deterioration in Hong Kong’s autonomy and in the fundamental freedoms and rights of its people during 2025, five years after the National Security Law was imposed.
The 28th annual report to the European Parliament and the Council said Hong Kong’s government maintained a strong focus on national security throughout the year, which it linked to the erosion of rights and freedoms, the European Commission reported on Tuesday.
Trials continued in 2025 against pro-democracy activists, advocates and politicians under the National Security Law and other legislation.
Media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai was convicted in December on national security and sedition charges, and he has been held in custody continuously since 31 December 2020, mostly in solitary confinement. Lai is a British citizen.
Authorities brought new national security prosecutions during the year, the report said. Activist Joshua Wong was newly charged with “conspiring to collude with foreign forces” while already serving a prison sentence in a subversion case.
Kwok Yin-sang, the father of exiled activist Anna Kwok, was prosecuted for attempting to deal with his daughter’s financial assets, and this was the first time a relative of a wanted activist was charged with a national security offence.
Warrants issued for overseas activists
Hong Kong authorities issued arrest warrants with bounties against a further 15 overseas activists under the extra-territorial application of the National Security Law — meaning the law was applied beyond Hong Kong’s borders — including a European citizen, the EU report said.
It added that court rulings continued in 2025 that supported advancing the rights of LGBTIQ+ people — an umbrella term for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people and others — but Hong Kong’s Legislative Council rejected a draft bill to create an alternative framework for same-sex partnerships.
The bill was intended to meet a requirement set by Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal in September 2023.
In the run-up to Legislative Council elections in December, the remaining opposition parties disbanded, including The Democratic Party, once the largest party in Hong Kong’s legislature.
The report also set out economic ties between the EU and Hong Kong, saying the city remained the world’s third-largest financial centre and a major trading and logistics hub in 2025.
About 1,770 EU companies were active in Hong Kong, making the EU the largest non-Chinese foreign business presence.
