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Hong Kong national security law
OpinionComment
Liu Guangyuan
Liu Guangyuan

Opinion | The UK has no ‘moral obligation’ to Hong Kong. What it has is colonial nostalgia

  • Britain is mute about its own national security legislation, but obsessed with demonising the national security law for Hong Kong
  • The British must accept that they have no rights and duties over Hong Kong after 1997, and abide by basic norms of international relations

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The Chinese national flag and the Hong Kong flag fly outside the Court of Final Appeal in July 2020. Photo: AFP
Liu Guangyuan
It comes as no surprise that Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, in her article in the Post last week, waded into Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs once again by dismissing the fact that Hong Kong has long ago returned to China while disregarding the success of “one country, two systems” as well as the Chinese government’s policies towards Hong Kong. I urge British politicians, including Truss, to step out of their misty-eyed colonial memories and refrain from interfering in Hong Kong affairs.
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One country, two systems is China’s basic national policy. As its creator, enforcer and defender, the Chinese government has fully and faithfully implemented the principles of one country, two systems, “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong”, and Hong Kong enjoying “a high degree of autonomy”.

Since 1997, Hong Kong has maintained prosperity and stability as an international financial, shipping and trade centre by complementing the strengths of the mainland and seeking common growth, and the democratic rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people have been strongly protected.

Under the revamped electoral system, Hong Kong enjoys a fresh political climate and has opened a new chapter of sound governance. Its elections have grown more representative, inclusive and fair, contributing to positive interaction between the executive branch and the legislature.

In case anyone should forget: over the 150-plus years of British colonial rule in Hong Kong, all governors were directly appointed by the United Kingdom, and all key official posts occupied by the British. The people of Hong Kong were not entitled to elect leaders or the legislature on their own, and never enjoyed genuine democracy and human rights.

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When the British government ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1976, it explicitly excluded a clause about periodic elections from being applied in Hong Kong. What’s worse, the Public Order Ordinance and the Societies Ordinance under British Hong Kong imposed draconian restrictions on assembly, demonstration and association.
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