Relations between the British consulate and the Hong Kong administration have soured since last year’s anti-government protests , London’s top local envoy has admitted, as he warned ahead of his departure later this week of a “stifling of dissent”. British Consul General Andrew Heyn told the Post that enthusiasm over mutual business and educational interests had descended into a “more difficult” relationship strained by disagreements over whether Beijing had broken the treaty setting out the terms for Hong Kong’s 1997 return to Chinese sovereignty. Heyn said that since taking up the post in September 2016, seen as the height of Sino-British “golden era” relations, the consulate had endured challenging times, especially following the enactment of the Beijing-decreed national security law . “This is why we are so worried about the national security law on the stifling of dissent,” Heyn said in an interview just days before leaving his position. “I personally feel it is not the Hong Kong that people know and love.” Heyn said the law – imposed on Hong Kong in June to outlaw acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces – had accelerated the downward spiral of relations between Britain and the city. Coupled with the arrests of several political activists and a Beijing ruling on lawmaker conduct effectively ousting four opposition members from the legislature, the city’s high degree of autonomy was “more than under threat”, he warned Heyn revealed that at times following the adoption of the national security law it had become difficult for the consulate to speak to opposition lawmakers and party members, with some fearing conversing with the mission would land them in trouble. “We are very careful to make sure we are not compromising any of our contacts,” he said. “We are saying ‘we are here if you want to talk, but we understand that if you don’t’.” Before relations became more difficult, he recalled that exchanges in 2017 were mostly about business opportunities or possible visits by British ministers. “Now it’s much more political. We are talking about the national security law, what is happening with the opposition,” he said. “I am going along with my instruction to say how concerned we are, why we call the breaches of the Joint Declaration,” he said, referring to the 1984 treaty signed by Beijing and London spelling out the high degree of autonomy for post-handover Hong Kong. “The [local] ministers I met are responding very robustly on why they think I am wrong.” But political differences aside, Heyn said British businesses remained committed to Hong Kong and that he had not seen an exodus of firms since the law came into force. But he said their confidence in the city rested on whether Hong Kong continued to have an independent judiciary. “This is the one that everybody is going to be watching now,” he said, adding he had witnessed how the city’s autonomy, rights and freedoms had been challenged. Following the passage of the national security law, Downing Street announced it would offer a pathway to citizenship for those with Hong Kong’s British National (Overseas) status . Heyn said that despite being “the biggest change in British immigration policy” it was met with surprisingly little opposition in his home country. There have been reports that the British government intends to make it even easier for status holders to resettle, by allowing parents to stay in Hong Kong and work, while sending the children to Britain. Beijing’s man in Hong Kong blames colonial mindset for ‘chaos’, hails security law Without confirming the veracity of those reports, Heyn, who earlier estimated that as many as 150,000 Hongkongers would leave for Britain in the first year of the scheme, said: “We are looking at this and trying to cover the ground as much as we can.” But while Britain had become a favoured destination for those seeking political refuge – including for activist Nathan Law Kwun-chung and more recently ex-lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung – Heyn stopped short of mentioning any special arrangements for a possible new diaspora. He only said there were already mechanisms in place for dissidents from around the world to settle in Britain. Heyn is due to leave by the end of this week, with a yet-to-be-announced candidate filling the post by next March or April. For now, the role will be covered by the consulate’s No 2, Tamsin Heath. The vacuum was triggered partly by the Covid-19 pandemic rather any political motives, Heyn said, who sought to leave behind a sense of optimism about future relations between British and local officials in Hong Kong. “I would leave with a very heartfelt hope that by the time my successor leaves, he or she will be talking about relationships similar to the ones I arrived at,” he said.