U.K. criticizes erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong
Reuters
The United Kingdom in January 2023 criticized what it said was the systematic erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong by the Chinese government and a crackdown on free speech by authorities in the former U.K. colony.
The criticism, contained in the U.K. government’s latest six-month report on Hong Kong, accused the People’s Republic of China (PRC) of diminishing the way of life promised to the people of Hong Kong and repeated the government’s view that Beijing had broken the terms of the 1997 handover that made the global financial hub a special administrative region of the PRC.
“Freedoms are being systematically eroded by Beijing on multiple fronts, tightening the restrictions on the lives of ordinary Hong Kongers,” U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in the foreword of the report, which covered the first half of 2022.
“The authorities continue to crack down on free speech, the free press, and free assembly,” Cleverly said. “Individuals and civil society groups are censoring themselves, and most independent news outlets have been forced to close.”
The Chinese embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Pictured: Protesters outside the Chinese embassy in London in December 2022 call for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong.)
Under terms of the handover, Hong Kong was guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for 50 years, including freedom of speech, under a “one country, two systems” formula.
“There is no doubt that China is failing to comply with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms have been sacrificed to facilitate greater control by Beijing, undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy,” Cleverly said. “China is diminishing the way of life promised to Hong Kong 25 years ago.”
In mid-2020, Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong to punish terrorism, collusion with foreign forces, subversion and secession with possible life imprisonment. U.K. authorities have repeatedly condemned the legislation, which critics say is used to stifle dissent.
In early January 2023, Hong Kong and Chinese authorities complained after a U.K. minister met with the legal team of Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong tycoon and founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.
Lai, a high-profile critic of Beijing, faces up to life in prison on charges of colluding with foreign forces and sedition under the security law. In December 2022, he was sentenced to nearly six years in prison on fraud charges related to a lease contract for Apple Daily’s former headquarters.
The newspaper was forced to close after police raided the newsroom and authorities froze its assets — one of several Hong Kong publications to cease operations in the wake of the security law.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
