UK not giving up on Hong Kong, says PM

BORIS JOHNSON said last night that China had failed to keep its promises over Hong Kong as President Xi Jinping visited the city in his first trip outside the mainland since Covid struck.

Mr Johnson said Britain was “not giving up on Hong Kong” on the 25th anniversary of the handover of the city to China.

“We made a promise to the territory and its people and we intend to keep it, doing all we can to hold China to its commitments,” Mr Johnson said in a video message.

“We simply cannot avoid the fact that for some time now, Beijing has been failing to comply with its obligations,” he added, as Hong Kong marks the landmark handover anniversary.

It came after Mr Xi praised Hong Kong’s rebirth “from the ashes” as he visited the former British colony with his wife, Peng Liyuan, to mark 25 years since the territory was returned to Beijing.

As the couple stepped off a high speed train to the city – closed since the pandemic began – they were greeted by schoolchildren, musicians and senior city officials, part of more than 3,000 people who were forced to quarantine and conduct daily PCR tests this week for the visit.

The pupils waved flowers and flags as they chanted, “Welcome!” while lion dancers and the city’s police band performed in the background.

“Hong Kong has withstood severe tests again and again, overcoming challenges one by one,” Mr Xi said during a brief speech. “After the wind and rain,

Hong Kong has risen from the ashes.” He later took a train back to the southern city of Shenzhen and stayed the night in mainland China.

He was set to return today for the swearing-in ceremony of John Lee, the new Hong Kong chief executive, and his cabinet.

Mr Xi’s presence in Hong Kong signifies his backing for the city’s intense crackdown on pro-democracy opposition through the 2020 national security law and a draconian zero-covid policy that has led to thousands being forced out of their homes into quarantine.

The West has criticised the city’s diminishing freedoms as a violation of basic human rights.

‘We made a promise to the territory and its people. We intend to keep it by holding China to its

In what is likely to be interpreted as a sign of their displeasure, Brian Davidson, Britain’s consul general in Hong Kong, and Hanscom Smith, US consul general, are among top representatives who will not be attending the handover ceremony, sources say.

Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, condemned the “steady erosion of political and civil rights since the imposition of the national security law”.

“The United Kingdom’s historic commitment to Hong Kong and its people endures,” she added, saying the UK would “continue to challenge China”.

Much is made nowadays of decolonisation, the process whereby provinces of former empires received their independence, often for the first time. The UK’S last colony was Hong Kong and 25 years ago today that relationship was brought to an end at a poignant ceremony in the rain. But there was never any prospect that independence would follow. Rather, the process was described as a “handover” to the tender mercies of the Chinese Communist Party.

At the time there were hopes that the authorities in Beijing would allow Hong Kong to flourish as a relatively free political entity under the “one country, two systems” approach. Essentially, there would be free speech and the rule of (British) law, retaining Hong Kong’s economic vibrancy and its global reach to the benefit of China. But this all changed with the elevation of Xi Jinping to the leadership in Beijing. He has dismantled the political and legal architecture designed to make the unlikely relationship work.

Xi has made a rare visit to Hong Kong to mark the 25th anniversary of what has turned out to be the territory’s inexorable assimilation into China. Dissent has been silenced, its champions locked up under draconian national security laws, and newspapers closed down. The repression was made easier by the pandemic lockdowns, which were used to justify postponing elections and flooding the streets with security forces.

The West has condemned Beijing, to no avail, while thousands of Hong Kong’s brightest and best have left, many coming to the UK. Arriving yesterday, President Xi said Hong Kong had been “reborn” since he was last there five years ago. The truth is that its unique status has been crushed.