LONDON: Chinese embassy in London has lodged “stern representations” with the United Kingdom after the UK government published a report that slammed Beijing for human rights abuses in Hong Kong.
“China’s position on Hong Kong-related affairs is consistent and clear. In disregard of China’s solemn stance, the UK went ahead to publish the so-called Six-monthly report on Hong Kong. …We are strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to it, and have lodged stern representations with the British side,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement published on its website on Thursday.
On Thursday, the UK foreign office published a six-monthly report on Hong Kong, stating that “the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities are undermining the rights and freedoms promised to Hong Kongers under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.”
The UK report said freedoms in Hong Kong “are being systematically eroded by Beijing on multiple fronts, tightening the restrictions on the lives of ordinary Hong Kongers,” while claiming that Hong Kong’s autonomy “is declining, and the pervasive, chilling effect of the National Security Law seeps into all aspects of society.”
Prior to Hong Kong’s transfer from the UK to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, people in the territory were promised that rights and freedoms would be ensured under Hong Kong and international law, according to Human Rights Watch.
In February 2019, Hong Kong authorities proposed legal revisions allowing criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China, where due process rights are routinely violated.
This prompted massive, largely peaceful protests starting in June. While authorities scrapped the revisions, they have ignored other demands, including an investigation into excessive use of force by the police, while imposing new restrictions on expression and assembly.
On June 30, 2020, China adopted the Hong Kong National Security Law in response to massive pro-democracy protests that swept through the special administrative region in 2019.
Since then, human rights groups have been slamming China for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy and using the law to restrict the freedoms of Hong Kong’s residents. Beijing denies all the accusations. (ANI)