How far should Britain go to ensure Joint Declaration promises are kept for Hong Kong?
City’s last two colonial leaders point out that there is still an obligation as, according to Chris Patten, ‘it’s not China’s declaration’
How far can Britain go to ensure that the promises made in the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong’s handover will be kept?
The answer depends on whom you ask.
According to Chris Patten, the last colonial governor before Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, Britain has a “legitimate interest” in asking China whether it is living up to its promise of ensuring that the city’s way of life and freedoms remain unchanged for 50 years until 2047 as provided by the agreement.
“It’s a joint declaration, not China’s declaration. I’m sometimes worried that Chinese officials talk as though the joint declaration was just a matter for them. It’s an international treaty,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Post at his London townhouse.
“The international lawyers have a phrase, pacta sunt servanda, which means it goes on for as long as it’s an agreement and proposed. So Britain has a legitimate interest in what is happening in Hong Kong and I think it should speak out for that interest.”
