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Protesters take to the streets on the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China. Photo: Dickson Lee

China protests over British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s warning on Hong Kong agreement

  • Beijing accuses Conservative leadership contender of interfering after calling for handover deal to ‘be honoured’
  • Attack on ‘shameless’ and ‘hypocritical’ Hunt raises questions about how far it sees itself as bound by the 1984 joint declaration

China lodged protests with Britain on Wednesday over Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s warning that Beijing would face serious consequences if it failed to honour the terms of the agreement to hand over Hong Kong.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing had made “stern representations” over the comments, and accused Hunt of still harbouring “colonial illusions”.

“We called on the British side, especially Hunt, to stop being overconfident and grossly interfering in Hong Kong affairs. This is doomed to fail,” Geng said.

On Tuesday Hunt said that the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed in 1984 and setting out the terms for Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty, was a legally binding agreement “to be honoured … and if it isn’t there will be serious consequences”.

Jeremy Hunt was accused of “harbouring colonial illusions”. Photo: Bloomberg

Hunt’s comments came after Hong Kong was rocked by some of the worst political unrest since its 1997 handover from Britain to China.

Protests in the city last month attracted up to 2 million marchers opposing a proposal that would allow people to be extradited to mainland China.

The Hong Kong government has agreed to suspend the bill, but opponents of the measure have demanded its complete withdrawal.

Another mass protest on Monday – the anniversary of the handover – ended with some demonstrators breaking into the city’s Legislative Council building to voice their anger and frustration.

Hunt condemned the violence but added that “we do understand the reason for people’s anger”.

“I want to be absolutely clear that our values are not negotiable and we expect all countries to honour their legal agreements with [Britain],” he said.

British PM hopeful Jeremy Hunt urges Xi Jinping to keep Hong Kong’s freedoms

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has demanded that the US, Britain and other foreign powers stop commenting on the Hong Kong protests, which it sees as an internal matter, and said it would “not allow” the issue to be discussed at last weekend’s G20 summit in Japan.

However, both US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raised concerns over Hong Kong in their meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping without a public reaction from Beijing.

But Geng took a tougher line towards Hunt’s comments on Wednesday, saying he “has never shaken off the bad habit of pointing fingers at others from a commanding position”.

“It is shameless to make such claims such as that the British side is fighting for the freedom of Hong Kong people,” he said.

“I want to remind Hunt that Hong Kong had no democracy at all ... during the colonial era.”

Just hours later, the Office of the Commissioner of the Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong also issued an strongly worded statement, condemning Hunt’s comments as“ridiculous and hypocritical”.

“When Hong Kong society is going through damages brought by violent crimes, politicians in UK are adding salt to the wounds heartlessly by continuously making outrageous comments to glorify violence and the criminals involved, [showing] that they have lost their moral values and judgment to tell right from wrong,” the statement released late Wednesday afternoon said.

Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London, said Beijing’s comments were “unjustifiable and indefensible”, and described Geng’s language as “rude”.

He also said it was “noteworthy” and “no doubt, intended to reduce Hunt’s chance of succeeding Theresa May as prime minister”.

“[Geng] is no doubt showcasing Chinese diplomacy which has been implicitly been one of ‘might makes right’,” Tsang said.

Demonstrators who stormed Hong Kong’s Legislative Council chamber during a protest on the 22nd anniversary of the city’s handover to China displayed an old British colonial flag. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hunt previously expressed support for the Hong Kong protesters at the start of the extradition protests.

He has also announced the halt of sales of tear gas and crowd control equipment to Hong Kong following claims of police brutality.

Hunt is one of the final two candidates to become the next leader of the ruling Conservative Party, with the victor almost certain to succeed May later this month.

But Tsang said the issue was larger than a spat with Hunt and argued that it was about how the Chinese government honoured the international agreements it has signed.

“As foreign secretary of the UK, one of the signatories [of the handover deal], Hunt is fulfilling his duty to his country and to this agreement.

“For the other signatory, the government of China, to condemn unilaterally the UK for adhering to the terms of this agreement will show to the rest of the world the value of reaching agreements with this government,” Tsang said.

The joint declaration was signed in 1984 by British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang and enshrined the “one country, two systems” formula into the handover deal.

The pact promised that in 1997, Hong Kong would return to China but continue to retain a high degree of autonomy as a capitalist society, with many rights and freedoms preserved for at least 50 years.

But Tian Feilong, an associate professor at Beihang University’s Law School in Beijing, said China had to make strong political representations on the issue.

“Britain has been wrongly interpreting its responsibility under the joint declaration, as well as misunderstanding China’s sovereign power in maintaining one country, two systems,” Tian said.

“The United Kingdom has no right or actual power to intervene in [China’s] domestic politics, [doing so] will only make Chinese people [feel] more disgusted, and cast a shadow over Sino-British relations.”

Extent of rampaging protesters’ destruction in legislature revealed

The diplomatic offensive continued on Wednesday at a press conference in London by Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming, who said: “I do hope that the British government will realise the consequences and would refrain from further interference from further damaging their relationship.”

He spoke moments before being summoned by Britain’s Foreign Office for a private meeting with diplomatic service chief Simon McDonald.

Liu was informed “that the comments made on UK policy towards Hong Kong by the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson were unacceptable and inaccurate”, a Foreign Office spokesman told AFP.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: China angry at UK’s Joint Declaration warning
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