Britain hits out over China treaty violations after MPS expelled
B r i t a i n h a s a c c u s e d C h i n a of violating its international treaty commitments after Beijing ordered the expulsion of four opposition MPS from the Hong Kong parliament.
Foreign Secretar y Dominic R a a b s a i d t h e move r e p r e - sented a "clear breach" of the Sino-british Joint Declaration which was supposed to guarantee the former colony a high d e g r e e o f a u t o n o my u n d e r Chinese rule.
But his comments drew an angry response from Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming, who insisted the expulsions are "purely an internal affair" for China.
Mr Liu was summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCD O) a s U K d i p l o ma t s s o u g h t t o formally register the Government's "deep concern" over Beijing's actions.
A f t e r w a r d s , h e t w e e t e d : "Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong. No foreign country has the right to inter vene in the matter."
C h i n a' s a c t i o n s h ave a l s o been condemned by the United States, the European Union and Australia, and Mr R aab s a i d t h e UK wi l l wor k wi t h its allies to hold Beijing to its obligations under international law.
The ambassador said i n a statement: "Beijing's imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong K o n g c o n s t i t u t e s a c l e a r breach of the legally binding Sino-british Joint Declaration.
"China has once again broken its promises and underm i n e d H o n g K o n g ' s h i g h 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."
T h e F o r e i g n , C o m m o n - w e a l t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t Office said it regards the latest breach as the third time Beijing has violated the provisions of the Joint Declaration since the handover of the former British colony to China in 1997.
The most recent previous
occasion was last year when China imposed national security legislation, giving it sweeping powers to curtail protest and suppress dissent in the territory.
T h e f o u r p r o - d e m o c r a c y MPS were expelled from the legislative council after they called on foreign countries to take action by imposing sanctions on China in response to its crackdown on opposition.
I t p r o m p t e d t h e r e m a i n -
ing opp osition memb ers to announce their mass resig - nation, leaving Hong Kong's pro -B eijing government led by chief executive Carrie Lam effectively unchallenged in the council.
The move was denounced by China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office as "an open challenge" to the authority of the central government and the Basic Law, Hong Kong's constitution. It said: "If these lawmakers hope to use their resignation to provoke opposition and beg for foreign interference, they have miscalculated."
Claudia Mo, a pro - demo cracy MP who also handed in her resignation, insisted their departure does not mark the end of their struggle for rights. "We are quitting the legislature only at this juncture. We're not quitting Hong Kong's democracy fight," she said.