LONDON (Reuters) – In an escalation of tensions with China, Britain on Monday suspended an extradition treaty with Hong Kong to protest a new security law that gives China radical powers and is seen by critics as endangered basic freedoms. in the old British colony.
The move, announced in Parliament by Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, was driven directly by fear that anyone extradited to Hong Kong from Britain could easily be sent to mainland China.
Raab also announced an extension to Hong Kong of a long-standing arms embargo against China that has been in place since 1989.
Both measures underscore a hardened stance among British politicians, across the political spectrum, on China’s treatment of Hong Kong, a former colony that returned to Chinese control in 1997, and growing concerns about Beijing’s more assertive behavior in the global stage.
The announcement came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Great Britain prepared to welcome Mike Pompeo, the United States Secretary of State, to London for a two-day visit. China is expected to be a priority on the agenda, and consensus on a tough stance seems likely.
Hours before Pompeo arrived in Britain, Raab told lawmakers that the extradition treaty would be suspended immediately and indefinitely, and would not be resubmitted “unless and until there are clear guarantees.”
“The UK is watching and everyone is watching,” added Mr. Raab.
The extension to Hong Kong of the arms embargo, Raab said, would include a ban on potentially lethal weapons, their components or ammunition, or “any equipment, which is not yet prohibited, that can be used for internal repression.”
Shackles, interception equipment, firearms and smoke grenades would be covered by the embargo, Raab added, describing the British move as part of a proportional response to China’s failure to comply with its international obligations.
The measures were condemned in China. When asked about the matter, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Wenbin, urged Britain to “stop going the wrong way.”
Britain is one of the countries to have denounced the Hong Kong security law, which was introduced after months of pro-democracy protests. It suddenly transformed the city by effectively criminalizing a number of political activities, including many of the tactics used by protesters.
But Britain has special concerns and sees the new law as a violation of the terms of a joint statement establishing the semi-autonomous state of Hong Kong after the colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
In response, the London government has offered a path to citizenship for many Hong Kong residents.
Under that measure, 350,000 people who hold British national passports (abroad) and an additional 2.5 million who are eligible for them would receive 12-month renewable visas that would allow them to work in Britain with the possibility of eventual citizenship.
China’s anger at that move intensified last week when the British government reversed the decision to allow Huawei, a Chinese technology company, to play a limited role in establishing Britain’s 5G high-speed wireless network.
The United States has pressured Britain to exclude Huawei and, through its own measures against the Chinese tech company, forced the British government to reconsider its initial decision to allow Huawei to participate in the British 5G network.
Now, British 5G providers will not be able to buy Huawei products after the end of the year, and will have to phase out the company’s technology entirely by 2027.
Mr. Raab’s statement on the extradition law and the arms embargo was well received in Parliament, an indication of how much sentiment about China has recently changed. It was also widely acclaimed across ideological divisions, with a growing consensus on the need for toughness.
Lisa Nandy, speaking for the opposition Labor Party, called on the government to go further and apply sanctions against senior Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses. That underscored the tougher stance of a Labor Party whose new leader, Keir Starmer, has tried to achieve a very different tone from that of his left predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.
The transformation is just as surprising within Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party. Under previous governments led by David Cameron, who was prime minister between 2010 and 2016, Britain pursued what a former Treasury chancellor, George Osborne, called a “golden age” in relations with China.
Chinese investment was courted, and China became a player in some sensitive sectors, including Britain’s nuclear power program.
But discontent among conservative lawmakers has been rumbling since Johnson’s initial decision in January to allow Huawei to enter Britain’s 5G network. Internal opposition was one of the reasons for Johnson’s reversal of Huawei policy last week.
Discord has grown due to China’s increasing pressure on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, its prompt response to the coronavirus, and its overall human rights record.
On Sunday, China’s ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming dismissed allegations of abuse against the country’s Uighur minority, despite being confronted in a BBC interview with images that appeared to show blindfolded Uighurs waiting be loaded on trains.
Mr. Xiaoming suggested the video was “false” and accused Western nations of making repeated “false accusations” against China.
Few British politicians are convinced. In Parliament on Monday, a conservative lawmaker and former minister, Tobias Ellwood, questioned whether this could be a “tipping point where we stop pretending that China shares our values,” and called for a strategic review of foreign policy in relationship with China.
That hardened sentiment is reflected in the growing influence of a new group, the China Research Group, which is drawing support from a variety of opinions within the Conservative Party.
Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong and a former cabinet minister in the Conservative Party, described Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, as a “dictator” and said that China cannot be trusted “under his communist leadership.”
“In all areas, China has been fighting with anyone who passes,” Patten said, citing tensions between Beijing and countries ranging from India and Japan to Australia and Canada.
Mr. Xi had successfully brought together both wings of a British Conservative Party that was divided over Brexit, just as he had “in all areas of American politics,” Patten said.
“They have done everything possible to behave rudely,” added Patten, “and I don’t think it is surprising that, overall, politically, in this country, politicians have seen the true nature of Chinese communism in the country.” 21st century.”
Claire Fu contributed to the Beijing investigation.
