Hong Kong is a first test for new global alliance
Britain’s response to the repression of Hong Kong shows our world has changed. The golden era that welcomed so much Chinese investment has ended, and we have joined with Australia, Canada and the US – rather than EU allies – in standing up to the communist state.
The new security law currently being imposed by Beijing spells the end of the “one country, two systems” approach agreed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. It would allow the Communist Party to imprison political enemies as it does on the mainland.
But this is about more than a semi-autonomous region in China. Over more than a century, Hong Kong has been a bridge between cultures and served as the legal centre across east Asia. It has proved beyond doubt that state control is not the natural desire of the people, who, given the slightest chance, reject cultural revolution for economic opportunity.
For the UK, it’s about more than our commitment to British nationals in a territory we governed for a century. We need to decide if we’re willing to defend the rules that have made the world – and us – safe and prosperous for nearly 70 years. For too long we have not been living up to our responsibility.
The coordinated response last week showed we can act if we choose to. The US removed the special trade status for the port, the UK will, if needed, extend the rights of British nationals overseas, those Hong Kongese with rights based on their status before handover to China. Along with Australia and Canada’s actions, we’re beginning to shape a strategic response.
Other countries have been vocal in defending human rights and the rule of law. Norbert Röttgen, chairman of Germany’s foreign affairs committee, has made the case powerfully in the Bundestag, and France’s President Macron has publicly renewed arms sales to Taiwan. The EU, however, has been muted. Josep Borrell, high representative for foreign affairs, merely expressed “grave concern”.
How free democracies deal with the rise of authoritarian power will define our political generation. If we face it early, together, we may be able to contain it. If we stand by and let it grow, it will get stronger.
Britain’s role should be clear. We need to build partnerships across the globe to defend and reform the international system. The Five Eyes alliance may be the core, but as Germany, France, the Czechs and others show, we are not alone in Europe.
Around the world there are more. Japan, which is scrambling fighter aircraft twice a day to defend against Chinese aggression, shows that this is no western club. Alongside India, South Korea and many African nations, now all too aware of the debt trap they’re offered, Britain could build a new network of allies.
In the face of communist tyranny, our diplomats launched GATT in the Forties to build trade among free people. Today, with the World Trade Organisation stalled, we need to work to look again at how we boost trade to reduce dependence on authoritarian states. The freedom and prosperity of our people depend on it.