Fact-checking pro-Beijing lawmaker Dominic Lee after he slams West, defends security law in viral UN speech

2026-03-29 - 01:03

Pro-Beijing lawmaker Dominic Lee enjoyed a viral moment over the past week as he attacked US and Israeli military adventurism, defended Hong Kong’s security law, and accused Britain and NATO countries of lacking moral authority. Lee delivered his submission, transcribed below, on March 18 at the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, winning praise on social media. When Hong Kong’s national security law was enacted in 2020, Western countries condemned us, they sanctioned us, they called it a violation to human rights. But here’s what I want to say. Since enacting this law, Hong Kong’s economy has recovered, tourism has flourished. The people finally feel safe again. And what’s more important, is that I really want to ask: What moral authority does the United States, a country that’s ruled by the Epsteins have over my country, a country that has lifted over 800 million people out of poverty? What moral authority does Britain, a country that arrested over 12,000 of its own people for posting online, have to lecture us about civil liberties? And what moral authority do NATO countries that breach human rights in this very chamber while turning a blind eye on the Zionist genocide in Gaza have to tell us what justice looks like? We will not be silenced by nations that treat human rights as bargaining chips, a tool of foreign policy. We will not accept lectures from governments that use human rights as weapons while their own hands are stained with the blood of Palestinians and Iranians they choose to forget. And we will not rest until every nation in this chamber is held to the same standard until hypocrisy crumbles, genocide is met with action, and peace is no longer a word we speak, but a world we build. Thank you, Mr. President. HKFP profiles Lee and fact-checks his remarks. Who is Dominic Lee? The 42-year-old US-educated lawmaker first entered politics when he was an economics student at Rice University in Texas. In 2004, he volunteered for John Kerry’s presidential campaign, and a year later, he interned for Texas Congressman Al Green – both Democrats. Lee returned to Hong Kong in 2009 and joined the pro-business Liberal Party. He won the 2015 District Council elections but lost his Sham Shui Po seat in the city’s last fully democratic election in 2019. Photo: Dan Garrett. He switched to the pro-establishment New People’s Party (NPP) and was elected in the New Territories North East constituency during the 2021 and 2025 “patriots only” races. Since taking his seat in the legislative chamber, Lee has helped ensure the passage of all government legislation by never voting “no” on a bill. The NPP legislator holds conservative economic and social views, and is known for his anti-gay, anti-refugee stance and opposition to universal retirement protection. In 2014, a resident known as “Grandma Yu” launched an expletive-ridden tirade at the legislature after Lee suggested elderly people should be cared for by their children, rather than anyone else. In 2016, the then-Liberal Party politician urged the city to quit the UN Convention against Torture to block “fake” refugees from coming to Hong Kong – a claim critics called “unsubstantiated” and “xenophobic.” He also led an alliance demanding their repatriation, whilst heading protests calling for refugees to be put in internment camps. In 2018, Lee claimed that civil unions and gay marriage in Hong Kong would “encourage” people to adopt LGBTQ lifestyles, despite there being no evidence of a link. Today, Lee is among a handful of lawmakers – generally from the NPP – who form part of an “international front,” tasked with defending the government in English, including on social media. He uses X and YouTube – where he has 104,000 followers and 27,800 subscribers, respectively – to disseminate messages in English. He also maintains a column in the state-run English-language China Daily newspaper. In 2021, he founded an “influencer coalition” called China Retold. On his social media platforms and in his op-ed writings, Lee’s output consistently toes the government line and repeats official talking points. His content lashes out at Western foreign policy, showcases China’s development, culture and technology using state media clips, and attacks opposition figures such as jailed media founder Jimmy Lai. Lawmaker Dominic Lee from the New People’s Party responds to the budget address on February 25, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The China Retold YouTube channel, which hosts over 40 clips, says that it aims to “retell the China story to the world.” Among the most viewed are videos titled: “Do Foreigners STILL Like Hong Kong?,” “Do Foreign Girls HATE Hong Kong Boys?,” and “What Are Foreigners Favourite Things About Hong Kong?” Only 13 videos had racked up more than 1,000 views at the time of writing. The China Retold YouTube channel. Photo: HKFP screenshot. Lee also hosts a pro-government Chinese channel with around 302,000 subscribers called “KOLHK,” which says it tackles media bias. Most clips involve Lee reacting to news and cultural updates. In his legislative declaration of interests, Lee stated that he received income from YouTube and newspaper columns. Poverty in China. Chart: World in Data. China claims China has lifted over 800 million people out of poverty, Lee told the UN – a claim backed up in a 2022 report by the World Bank. “Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below US$1.90 per day – the International Poverty Line as defined by the World Bank to track global extreme poverty– has fallen by close to 800 million,” the report said. US-Israel claims During his submission, Lee made reference to the “Zionist genocide in Gaza.” The claim has been backed by an independent UN inquiry, which concluded in September that “Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” Amnesty International, Oxfam, Genocide Watch, and Defence for Children International are among the NGOs that agree, alongside 55 scholars of the Holocaust, genocide, and mass violence who put out a statement in late 2023. Israel denies the charge. Anti-war protesters (from second left to right) YY, Yu Wai-pan, and Lam Chi-leung protest outside the Kowloon Mosque on October 7, 2025. Photo: James Lee/HKFP. However, Lee has no track record of supporting the Palestinian community in Hong Kong or protest efforts by HK Anti-war Mobilization, nor has he spoken up when pro-Palestine events were shut down. China itself faces accusations of cultural or systematic genocide against ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang, though it denies the charges. UK claims In his UN speech, Lee made a misleading claim that Britain “arrested over 12,000 of its own people for posting online.” The figures are regularly cited by right-wing social media accounts and appear to derive from a 2025 report by The Times newspaper, which obtained data from 37 police forces in relation to two pieces of legislation. It said that, under key sections of the Communications Act and Malicious Communications Act, a total of 12,183 arrests were made in 2023 and 12,437 the year before. The UK Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London. File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP. However, the legislation does not just govern online activity – it also covers phone calls, letters and hoax calls to emergency call centres. Plus, it prohibits online threats, false information, persistent messages that cause “annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety,” and those which are “grossly offensive” or “indecent, obscene or menacing” in character. The arrests rarely result in convictions. According to Ministry of Justice figures, there were 1,119 sentencings under the two laws – down by half in a decade, according to The Times. A 2025 Freedom House report on internet freedoms found that the UK generally ensures robust protections for civil liberties and political speech, despite increasing concerns about state surveillance and child protection online. While the UK scores 76 out of 100 on the internet freedom index, China sits at the bottom of the ranking alongside Myanmar with 9. Citing strict censorship and violations of user rights, Freedom House said, “People face severe legal and extra-legal repercussions for online activities like sharing news stories, talking about their religious beliefs, and communicating with family members and others overseas.” China’s national flags fill the streets in Hong Kong ahead of July 1, 2025, the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. While Hong Kong’s internet is largely free of censorship, there have been numerous arrests and jailings for online speech in the national security law era. Uttering a protest slogan or sharing a protest song is now illegal, whilst online calls for protest ballots have also led to prosecutions. Most recently, a retiree was sentenced to eight months behind bars over seditious Facebook posts. National security law claims Lee told the UN that since enacting the national security law in June 2020, the city’s economy has recovered and tourism has flourished. Visitor arrivals have, in fact, failed to recover to figures seen before the Covid-19 pandemic and the security law. Hong Kong welcomed 49.9 million visitors last year – an increasing trend, but still fewer than the 65.1 million visitors seen in 2018, or the 55.9 million arrivals in 2019. As for Hong Kong’s economy, the city saw its largest contraction on record during the initial part of the pandemic in 2020, before registering signs of recovery in 2023. A more robust recovery only set in last year, with its Gross Domestic Product rising by 3.5 per cent, beating estimates. However, the territory is still suffering from a property and retail slump, job market weakness, a shrinking, ageing workforce, a record high rental market, as well as poor local consumption. For much of