Update | Stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, Beijing warns European Union
A day after EU issues highly critical report on the SAR, the Foreign Ministry hits back and hails success of the ‘one country, two systems’ formula
Beijing “strongly opposes” the European Union making irresponsible accusations about Hong Kong affairs and warned foreign governments not to interfere in the city’s affairs.
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, made the remarks at a press conference on Tuesday, a day after the European Union released a highly critical annual report on Hong Kong.
“We call on the European Union to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs,” she said.
A spokesman for the commissioner’s office of the Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong emphasised that the “one country, two systems” formula had been effectively implemented and Hong Kong residents’ rights and freedom fully protected since the handover.
EU issues scathing annual report attacking Beijing on Hong Kong missing booksellers case and stalling of electoral reform
The Hong Kong government also warned foreign governments not to interfere in the city’s affairs, saying “one country, two systems” had worked smoothly since 1997.
The EU report described the case of the five booksellers who went missing late last year and later surfaced on the mainland as “the most serious challenge” to the governing principle since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty and warned it could undermine Hong Kong’s standing as an international business centre.
The EU urged Beijing to restore the trust placed by the city’s residents and the international community in the “one country, two systems” policy following the case of the missing booksellers.
The report also called on Beijing and the Hong Kong government to resume the political reform process, which was shelved last year after the government failed to secure enough support in the Legislative Council.
Wong Kwok-kin, a lawmaker from the Beijing-friendly Federation of Trade Unions, said he believed that the EU’s stance was related to US President Barack Obama’s recent tour of Europe.
“The United States wants to pull the EU together to find fault with China,” he said.
Political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu said the incident would not have a significant impact on the relationship between the EU and China.
The five associates of Causeway Bay Books, which sold publications critical of the Chinese Communist Party, disappeared one after another starting in October last year.
Only the truth about what really happened to bookseller Lee Po will calm the jitters in Hong Kong
The EU report said that one of the two holding EU citizenship – Lee Po, who vanished after he was seen at a warehouse in Chai Wan on December 30 – seemed to “have been abducted”.
After he surfaced later on the mainland, Lee was handed to Hong Kong authorities at the Lok Ma Chau border crossing last month.
But Lee, a British citizen, stuck to his story that he had voluntarily gone to the mainland to assist in an investigation involving a colleague, Gui Minhai, who also disappeared and later reappeared on the mainland.
