Making a mountain out of a molehill over British parliamentarians' Hong Kong visit
British members of parliament are a lot like our lawmakers in Legco, or for that matter, MPs the world over. They grandstand and jump on high horses. Finger-wagging is their speciality.
British members of parliament are a lot like our lawmakers in Legco, or for that matter, MPs the world over. They grandstand and jump on high horses. Finger-wagging is their speciality.
That is precisely what a group of British lawmakers led by Richard Ottaway plans to do in Hong Kong. The visit, called off after Beijing imposed a ban, ostensibly aims to gauge democratic developments in Hong Kong in light of the latest wave of Occupy protests.
But is it not clear that, if it had gone ahead, it would not have served any purpose other than wasting British taxpayers' money and antagonising China without helping to improve the political situation in Hong Kong one iota?
Only we ourselves, Hong Kong and the mainland, can resolve the crisis. But the argument is that Britain has both treaty and moral obligations towards Hong Kong under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and barring the British parliamentary delegation is a breach of the joint treaty. Really?
Have the British MPs not heard of information technology that would have enabled them to chat with any number of Hong Kong people and witnesses willing to talk to them? The British consulate here reportedly runs the largest and best-resourced diplomatic mission in town. Surely its capable staff would have been more than happy to brief their august MPs and share with them their erudite and insightful analyses and diplomatic cables about the latest unrest.
The British parliament held a three-hour emergency debate this week over China's ban, with MPs warning it would damage ties between London and Beijing. I doubt that. The MPs have the right to call witnesses and experts, including top officials. But Hong Kong and the mainland have no obligations to help them along with their useless junket.
The Joint Declaration is between two sovereign states. Until the government of David Cameron or his foreign ministry minions start alleging treaty breaches by China, a highly unlikely event, there is no diplomatic row, no violation and no disagreement. Right now, it's just a bunch of parliamentary busybodies making noises while the pan-democrats and their allies in the Hong Kong media are busy making a mountain out of a molehill.
