Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab speaks during a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary … [+]
The U.K. government said China is in “a state of ongoing non-compliance” with the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a treaty signed by the two countries that guarantees Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms after the city was handed back to Beijing in 1997.
“Beijing’s decision to impose radical changes to restrict participation in Hong Kong’s electoral system constitutes a further clear breach of the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement on Saturday.
The Sino-British Joint Declaration, which was signed in 1984, stipulates that Hong Kong would retain its high degree of autonomy, rights and freedoms for 50 years after the handover in 1997.
Raab also said on Saturday that the Chinese authorities’ continued action of ongoing non-compliance was a “demonstration of the growing gulf between Beijing’s promises and its actions.”
The statement did not indicate what action the U.K. government might take in response to the third breach of the Joint Declaration in less than nine months.
A day earlier, the foreign ministers of the G7: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., the U.S. and the European Union issued a joint statement declaring the changes approved by the National People’s Congress (NPC), combined with the recent mass arrests of pro-democracy activists and politicians, undermines Hong Kong’s autonomy. The changes will “stifle political pluralism, contrary to the aim of moving towards universal suffrage” as set out in the city’s mini-constitution.
The Chinese embassy in the U.K. issued a swift rebuttal to what it described as “groundless slanders.”
“The U.K. has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of ‘supervision’ over Hong Kong after the handover, and it has no so-called ‘obligations’ to Hong Kong citizens,” a spokesperson said on Saturday. “No foreign country or organization has the right to take the Joint Declaration as an excuse to interfere in Hong Kong affairs, which are China’s internal affairs.”
Chinese officials have said that the changes are “improvements” aimed at ensuring that only “patriots” are in control of Hong Kong. Beijing has sought to exert more control over the city following widescale protests in 2019 and 2020 that were triggered by a highly controversial plan to allow extraditions to mainland China.
In November last year, Raab said Beijing’s move to impose new rules that disqualified four opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong was also a “clear breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The NPC passed a measure at the time that stipulated the four opposition members would immediately lose their seats in Hong Kong’s legislative council, which prompted almost the entire pro-democracy camp to announce their resignations.
In July the same year, Raab said the National Security Law which China had imposed on the people of Hong Kong was also a “clear and serious violation” of the Joint Declaration. He expressed particular concern over provisions that gave mainland Chinese authorities the power to assume jurisdiction over certain cases and try them in the mainland. He also noted that the security law does not provide legal and judicial safeguards in those cases.
The U.K. responded to the passing of the security law by offering Hong Kong residents a path to British citizenship.
