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Hong Kong row: China has again breached law, says UK
The Foreign Office said that the disqualification breaches both China’s commitment that Hong Kong will enjoy a “high degree of autonomy” and the right to freedom of speech guaranteed under Paragraph 3 and Annex I of the declaration.
The disqualification of four Hong Kong legislators constitutes another breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on the island’s handover to China in 1997, the Boris Johnson government said on Thursday, and summoned the Chinese envoy to express “deep concern”.
The Foreign Office said that the disqualification breaches both China’s commitment that Hong Kong will enjoy a “high degree of autonomy” and the right to freedom of speech guaranteed under Paragraph 3 and Annex I of the declaration.
This is the third time since 1997 that China has breached the legally-binding declaration; the first was in 2016; the second in June 2020 when Beijing introduced the Hong Kong National Security Legislation, officials added. Sanctions may be considered with the UK’s allies.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “Beijing’s imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong constitutes a clear breach of the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration”.
“China has once again broken its promises and undermined Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy. The UK will stand up for the people of Hong Kong, and call out violations of their rights and freedoms. With our international partners, we will hold China to the obligations it freely assumed under international law”, he added.
On Wednesday, China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee decided that any Hong Kong legislator who promotes or supports Hong Kong independence, refuses to recognise China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong, seeks foreign countries to interfere in the affairs of Hong Kong, or endangers the national security of Hong Kong, will be in breach of the parliamentary oath and should be disqualified from membership of the Hong Kong Legislative Council.
The decision led to the immediate removal of four elected members. All other pro-democracy legislators said they would resign en masse.
According to the Foreign Office, Beijing’s move is part of a pattern apparently designed to harass and stifle voices critical of China’s policies; the new rules for disqualification are seen by London as providing a further tool in the campaign, with vague criteria open to wide-ranging interpretation.
