UK’s new foreign secretary calls on China to respect ‘peaceful protest’ in Hong Kong
- Dominic Raab issues statement after first meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Asean session in Thailand
- ‘The UK and China have a joint and legal commitment to the freedoms enshrined in the Joint Declaration,’ Raab said he reminded Wang
The new administration of Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made its first comment concerning Hong Kong, calling on China to respect peaceful protests in the former British colony.
Dominic Raab, Britain’s new foreign secretary and de facto deputy prime minister, made the remarks after his first meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Bangkok, Thailand.
“We are clear and candid when we disagree,” Raab said in a statement following his discussion with Wang on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
“On Hong Kong, I underlined that the UK and China have a joint and legal commitment to the freedoms enshrined in the Joint Declaration, and that while we deplore any violence, peaceful protest is a basic right and should be respected,” Raab said.
According to Chinese state media Xinhua, Wang called on Britain to “appropriately handle relevant sensitive questions” with China.
Apart from Hong Kong, the development of 5G technology and post-Brexit trading agreements with China were also discussed between the two sides, according to a diplomatic source.