Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the Hong Kong Government's ban on the Hong Kong Special Administration Region National Party with the human rights guarantees contained in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The Government issued the following statement regarding the Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region Government’s plan to ban the Hong Kong National Party on 17 July:

“We note with concern the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government plans to prohibit the continued operation of the Hong Kong National Party. The rights to stand for election, of free speech and of freedom of association are enshrined in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.

“The UK does not support Hong Kong independence, but Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and its rights and freedoms, are central to its way of life, and it is important they are fully respected.”

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