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The intelligence-sharing group Five Eyes has said that China’s imposition of new rules to disqualify elected lawmakers in Hong Kong appeared to be part of a campaign to silence critics and called on Beijing to change course.
“We urge the central Chinese authorities to reconsider their actions against Hong Kong’s elected legislature and immediately reinstate the members of the Legislative Council,” the foreign ministers of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States said in a joint statement.
Hong Kong expelled four members of the opposition from its legislature last week after Beijing gave city authorities new powers to curb dissent. The move prompted massive resignations by Hong Kong’s pro-democratic opposition lawmakers.
It also generated further alarm about Hong Kong’s level of autonomy, promised under the “one country, two systems” formula when Britain ended its colonial rule and returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.
“China’s action is a clear violation of its international obligations under the legally binding UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration,” the five countries said.
Britain now considers China to have breached the joint statement three times, including national security legislation for Hong Kong introduced this year.
Washington has already imposed sanctions on Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam and other Chinese officials for the crackdown, and has warned of further measures.
Hong Kong police said they had arrested three former lawmakers on Wednesday morning for incidents in May and June in which foul-smelling liquid was spilled into the city’s legislature, an act police said was intended to cause harm .
China denies restricting rights and freedoms in the world’s financial center, but authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing have moved swiftly to suppress dissent after anti-government protests broke out in June last year and plunged the city into a swell. crisis.
