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Hong Kong national security law: US taps allies Britain, Australia and Canada to pressure China
- Countries call on China to honour the Sino-British Joint Declaration in a statement
- The four foreign ministers say the national security law would undermine the ‘one country, two systems framework’
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The US has stepped up diplomatic pressure against China’s move to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, forming a common position with the UK, Australia and Canada.
In a four-nation statement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his counterparts called on China to work with Hongkongers on forging a way forward to honour its commitments made under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
“China’s decision to impose the new national security law on Hong Kong lies in direct conflict with its international obligations under the principles of the legally binding, UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration,” said the statement, which was also signed by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s foreign minister.
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The four foreign ministers said Thursday the national security law would undermine the “one country, two systems framework”.
If the Chinese Communist Party thinks that they’re going to continue to break their promises to the world, to openly defy the rule of law, the United States of America is going to stand up and tell them no
“It also raises the prospect of prosecution in Hong Kong for political crimes, and undermines existing commitments to protect the rights of Hong Kong people,” they said.
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Issued hours after China’s National People’s Congress nearly unanimously endorsed the law, the statement by the four countries asked Beijing to work things out with Hongkongers.
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