Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1663521/cy-leung-senior-hong-kong-officials-snub-uk-inquiry-joint-declaration
Hong Kong

CY Leung, senior Hong Kong officials snub UK inquiry into Joint Declaration

Chief executive and other senior officials 'give no reason' for refusal to give evidence to British parliamentary probe into Joint Declaration

British MP Richard Ottaway says some witnesses to his committee do not believe China has breached the Joint Declaration. Photo: AFP

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has snubbed a British parliamentary committee's invitation to give evidence at its inquiry into the implementation of the Joint Declaration.

Richard Ottaway, chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee - whose visit to Hong Kong was banned by Beijing - said in an interview with the South China Morning Po st on Tuesday that his committee invited Leung and other Hong Kong officials earlier this week to give evidence to the inquiry via video link. "But they refused without giving any reason," Ottaway said.

Beijing last month banned a visit by the committee to Hong Kong originally scheduled for this month.

China's ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, wrote in an article published in the Daily Telegraph on December 6 that the committee members were banned from entering Hong Kong because their visit could "pour oil over fire" and give Occupy Central activists "the illusion of external support".

But the committee has urged the British government to summon Liu to the Foreign Office to lodge a formal protest against Beijing's ban of the visit.

Ottaway said the British government had not responded to the committee's call, saying it can respond within two months.

"Barring us from visiting Hong Kong is the clearest breach of the Joint Declaration because it provides a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong," he said.

"Immigration and migration are issues for the Hong Kong government to manage. It should have been the representative of the Hong Kong government who came to see me and told us we couldn't go, not the Chinese government representatives."

Ottaway said the committee had been determined to be even-handed over a contentious issue.

"We approached the situation in Hong Kong with an open mind and our report will be evidence-based," Ottaway said. "I suspect some protesters in Hong Kong do think there had been breaches. So it would be wrong [for Beijing] to believe that we will automatically agree with them."

Ottaway disagreed that the committee's visit to Hong Kong would "pour oil over fire". "Since we were banned, protesters in Hong Kong were batoned and pepper sprayed as police cleared the roads. We have nothing to do with the worsening situation," he said.

Ottaway, who worked as a lawyer in Hong Kong for a few months in the early 1980s, said he would like to see Hong Kong move to full democracy while recognising the Basic Law's "ultimate aim" that a nominating committee would name candidates for election of the chief executive by universal suffrage.

"As far as I can see, China is complying with the pledge in the Joint Declaration. They may not match how we see democracy over here [in Britain]. But my personal view is that it is difficult to point the finger at the Chinese government saying they are breaching the Joint Declaration."

The declaration states that the central government will appoint the chief executive based on the results of "elections or consultations" to be held locally.

Ottaway added: "A number of witnesses giving evidence to us certainly don't think China has breached the Joint Declaration."

He added that when Hong Kong's last governor Chris Patten gave evidence in November, he did not actually accuse China of breaching the Joint Declaration.

Last night a Hong Kong government spokesman said Beijing had already cautioned Ottaway that the city's constitutional development was an internal affair of the mainland and Hong Kong.