Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What recent assessment he has made of the effect of the National Security Law on the people of Hong Kong.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The enactment and imposition by China of national security legislation for Hong Kong constitutes a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. It violates the high degree of autonomy of executive and legislative powers and independent judicial authority, provided for in the Joint Declaration.
We are also deeply concerned by the arrest of Jimmy Lai, and other individuals, in Hong Kong. Freedom of the press is explicitly guaranteed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Basic Law, and supposedly protected under Article 4 of the National Security Law. The arrests are further evidence that the National Security Law is being used to silence opposition. The Hong Kong authorities must uphold the rights and freedoms provided for in the Joint Declaration.
Following the enactment of the national security legislation, the Foreign Secretary announced on 20 July that the UK would take clear action in response, including offering a new immigration path for British Nationals (Overseas), suspending the UK’s extradition treaty with Hong Kong, and extending our arms embargo on mainland China to Hong Kong.
The Foreign Secretary set out concerns to State Councillor/Minister for Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, on 8 June and 28 July. FCO officials have raised recent arrests with the Hong Kong authorities over recent weeks, including with members of the Executive Council and the President of the Legislative Council.
We will continue to bring together our international partners to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out the violation of their freedoms, and to hold China to their international obligations.