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The U.K. Saturday declared China to be in a state of “ongoing non-compliance” with an international agreement on Hong Kong following “radical changes to restrict participation” in its electoral system.
Beijing is facing a chorus of condemnation after approving changes Thursday to how Hong Kong’s legislature is chosen. The measures give mainland China more influence over the semi-autonomous state’s leadership, including its chief executive, with the aim of keeping “anti-China” politicians from holding office.
“Beijing’s decision to impose radical changes to restrict participation in Hong Kong’s electoral system constitutes a further clear breach of the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement, referring to the 1984 agreement mapping out Hong Kong’s political future as it transitioned away from British rule into Chinese sovereignty, completed in 1997. It’s the third breach in nine months, Raab added.
The U.K. will “continue to stand up for the people of Hong Kong,” Raab pledged. But it’s unclear whether London will take any measures to try to enforce the joint declaration. According to legal analysts, the declaration does not include mutually agreed measures to ensure compliance.
Raab’s remarks follow a Friday statement from G7 foreign ministers and the EU’s top diplomat expressing “grave concerns at the Chinese authorities’ decision fundamentally to erode democratic elements of the electoral system in Hong Kong.”
China has defended the measures, arguing that pro-democracy politicians would still be able to hold office under the new rules.
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