(AP) Britain’s foreign secretary said Wednesday China’s new national security law for Hong Kong “is a clear and serious violation” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the agreement that paved the way for the former British colony’s handover to Chinese rule 23 years ago.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told reporters that officials have carefully assessed the contents of the new law since it was published late Tuesday. He said he planned to set out details of what action the U.K. will take along with its international partners in reaction to the law.
The 1984 treaty was supposed to guarantee at least 50 years of Western-style rule of law and civil liberties for Hong Kong under a “One Country, Two Systems” principle until 2047.
Chinese officials have in the past referred to the document as a “historical document,” a claim that Britain strongly rejects.
Raab said Tuesday that Beijing’s decision to impose the security law on Hong Kong lies in “direct conflict with China’s international obligations.”
He said Wednesday that the trust in China’s ability to live up to its international responsibilities took “a big step backwards.”
“We fought very hard and we negotiated with the Chinese back in the 1980s to have the freedom for peaceful protest and freedom of expression to be respected,” Raab said Wednesday. “China through this national security legislation is not living up to its promises to the people of Hong Kong. We will live up to our promises to them.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Wednesday that Britain would allow up to 3 million Hong Kongers eligible for the British National Overseas passport to live and work in the U.K. for 12 months, up from the current six months. The policy change was meant to open up a “pathway” to British citizenship for Hong Kongers who want to flee the financial hub.
In This Story: Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson has been Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2019.
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In This Story: Dominic Raab
Dominic Rennie Raab is a British politician serving as First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs since July 2019.
This role is otherwise known as Foreign Secretary.
Raab served in the British Cabinet as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in 2018, until his resignation. That role was otherwise known as Brexit Secretary.
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In This Story: Hong Kong
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (HKSAR), is a metropolitan area and special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta of the South China Sea. With over 7.5 million residents of various nationalities in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War and was further extended when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. The whole territory was transferred to China in 1997. As a special administrative region, Hong Kong maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China under the principle of “one country, two systems”.