UK report warns focus on national security ‘undermining’ Hong Kong’s reputation as city slams ‘hypocrisy’
Hong Kong Free Press
A regular UK government report on Hong Kong, which said the city’s focus on national security was “undermining” its international reputation, has sparked condemnation from authorities over its “absurd and false contents.”
The latest six-monthly report, published on Thursday, details political, judicial and constitutional developments in Hong Kong from January through June. The UK government has said the reports reflect a “commitment to the faithful implementation of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,” a treaty that guaranteed Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy after it was handed over from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
The period in question saw the enactment of a new security law following its swift passage through Hong Kong’s opposition-free legislature and the first arrests under it, the banning of a song popular during the 2019 protests, and the resignation of two British judges from the city’s apex court citing the political situation.
According to UK foreign secretary David Lammy, the information outlined in the latest report “underscores a continued drift away from the commitments set out in the Joint Declaration.”
“Whilst we judge that Hong Kong’s economic, monetary, and financial systems remain distinct the report suggests that the continued focus on any perceived threat to national security is undermining Hong Kong’s international reputation,” Lammy wrote in the report. “Additional concerns have arisen from attempts to apply Hong Kong law extra-territorially.”
Lammy, who became foreign secretary after the period covered in the report, added that Hong Kong was “a city like no other.” He said Britain’s new Labour government was “committed to Hong Kong’s future as an open and vibrant city” and to providing “a warm welcome and continued protection” to Hongkongers who have made the UK their home.
After Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020, the UK introduced an immigration route for Hongkongers who held British National (Overseas) passports. As of March, almost 202,000 such visas had been granted.
Regarding the enactment this year of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, known locally as Article 23, the report noted that Lammy’s predecessor David Cameron had issued a statement in February. According to that statement, UK officials had raised concerns about the legislation both privately with Hong Kong authorities and through the public consultation process.
Among the concerns raised were the possibility that the work of international organisations in Hong Kong could be impacted, and that “vague references to ‘external forces’ and the new offence of ‘external interference’ threaten the legitimate and lawful diplomatic and consular activity as protected in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.”
Cameron’s statement also said the UK had “noted the references to UK national security legislation” throughout the Article 23 consultation document. The UK law was “informed by public consultation and was subject to full scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament, including the democratically elected House of Commons,” Cameron said, adding that those processes ensured the legislation was “fully representative of the views of the UK public and has democratic legitimacy.”
Cameron concluded: “I strongly urge the Hong Kong SAR government to reconsider their proposals and engage in genuine and meaningful consultation with the people of Hong Kong. We will monitor development of this legislation closely.”
‘Bullying act and hypocrisy’
In a lengthy statement issued on Thursday evening, the Hong Kong government said it “must resolutely refute the untruthful remarks, slanders and smears” in the UK’s report.
Drawing comparisons between the Hong Kong protests and unrest in 2019 and racist riots that spread across England and Wales in August, a Hong Kong government spokesperson said the UK had taken “strong measures,” including “large-scale arrests and prosecutions.”
“However, the UK Government glorified the ‘black-clad violence’ that occurred in Hong Kong as ‘pro-democracy protests’, vilified the HKSAR law enforcement, prosecutorial and judicial authorities’ performance of their duties in accordance with the law as a ‘violation of human rights’,” the spokesperson said, adding that showed “its bullying act and hypocrisy with double standards are utterly ugly and despicable.”
The spokesperson also pointed to the UK’s National Security Act 2023, saying that Britain had “no right and no qualification to make scandalous accusations against the Basic Law Article 23 legislation and the measures taken by the Central Authorities and the HKSAR Government to safeguard national security when it just does the very same thing.”
Article 23 had “a strong consensus,” the spokesperson continued, stating that almost 99 per cent of the submissions received during the consultation period “showed support and gave positive comments.”
Furthermore, the extraterritorial effect of Hong Kong’s security laws was aligned with international law, the spokesperson said, adding that the police had the right to pursue those suspected of violating security legislation outside of the city. Referring to 13 overseas activists against whom national security arrest warrants have been issued, the spokesperson said: “Their malicious acts to endanger national security have been seen through by all.”
“The UK must immediately act reasonably and sensibly, and stop making continuous malicious attacks on the laws safeguarding national security in the HKSAR.”
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