UK Issues Latest Report on Hong Kong Developments
The U.K. last week released its latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong, outlining events in the region from July 1 to Dec. 31, including certain events that the U.K. said raise human rights and business concerns. It said certain rights and freedoms in Hong Kong "continued to be negatively impacted by the broad application of" Hong Kong's national security law, the 2020 legislation that made illegal a range of dissenting and anti-government acts. The U.K. said Hong Kong authorities arrested several people during that time frame for calling for Hong Kong’s independence "and for foreign sanctions against China and Hong Kong, criticising them for 'betraying' China and 'neglecting' the interests of Hong Kong."
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The U.K. "wants a stable relationship with China, but one where we can robustly raise our concerns," the country's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in the report. "We must continue to have frank discussions with China, including on our mutual responsibility to uphold our international commitments."
A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said March 28 that the U.K. "fabricates" the information in this report "to interfere in China’s internal affairs and vilify the human rights conditions and the rule of law" in the region. Hong Kong's "security, democracy and people’s freedoms and rights are under better protection, and it enjoys more promising prospects for development," the spokesperson said during a regular press conference in Beijing, according to an English version transcript provided by China's embassy in the U.S. "Hong Kong shows to the world a safer, freer, and more open and predictable business environment, and sees all-time high figures for the registration of non-Hong Kong firms."