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UK’s duty to Hong Kong ‘non-negotiable’ in post-Brexit trade talks with China, Paddy Ashdown says

British peer says nation ‘bears the responsibility’ for city’s democratic development, because former colonial rulers did not set course earlier

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Paddy Ashdown said the UK has a ‘very special duty’ to Hong Kong. Photo: Nora Tam
Stuart Lau

The UK government was called upon to fulfil its “very special duty” to Hong Kong, as a British political grandee said on Tuesday that the city’s interests are “non-negotiable” when London speaks to Beijing about post-Brexit trade deals.

Paddy Ashdown, in the city for a two-day fact-finding mission, added that it was important for China to respect the Sino-British Joint Declaration as well as to avoid a “repressive” attitude towards the city if President Xi Jinping wants the country to be seen as a global superpower.

Saying that Britain “bears the responsibility for the position in Hong Kong,” Ashdown, who sits in the UK’s House of Lords, argued that the former colonial power had failed to “set a direction of travel” for the city’s democratic development.

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The British government is currently negotiating the terms of its withdrawal from the European Union, after voters narrowly backed a British exit – the so-called Brexit – in a referendum last year. Walking out of the free trade area heightens the importance of trade deals with other large nations, such as China.

“We are so obsessed with Brexit that we do almost anything for a decent trade deal,” Ashdown, who as an MP was leader of the Liberal Democrat party, said.

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The UK is in the process of leaving the European Union. Photo: AFP
The UK is in the process of leaving the European Union. Photo: AFP
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