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The UK could remove its judges from the highest court in Hong Kong. The British chancellor said on Monday that this could happen because China is failing to fulfill its international obligations in Hong Kong.
A new security bill imposed in the city on June 30 is seen as a violation of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which led to the Hong Kong handover. For more than 150 years, Britain ruled Hong Kong, after which it was returned to China in 1997. The UK also protested against new rules that allow for the disqualification of elected legislators in Hong Kong.
“This has been, and continues to be, the most disturbing period in Hong Kong’s post-transfer history,” Raab wrote in his latest report on Hong Kong, which he has been writing for six months.
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The Hong Kong government has responded to the reports, calling them “radical attacks and baseless accusations.” Hong Kong representatives also called his comments “irresponsible.”
According to the local Xinhua news agency, the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong showed “strong outrage” at the report. “Wake up and stop the old colonial dream of interfering in Hong Kong affairs!” The Chinese representatives said.
Hong Kong’s controversial national security law punishes secession, sedition and collusion with foreign forces. It could put people in jail for life. The city has witnessed demonstrations for more than a year, which at times turned violent.
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According to international analysts and governments, the law is a stifle of freedoms enriched in Hong Kong’s “Basic Law”.
“I have initiated consultations with Lord Reed, Chief Justice of the United Kingdom, on when to review whether it is still appropriate for British judges to serve as non-permanent judges on the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal,” Raab said.
