Beijing says Sino-British treaty on Hong Kong handover still binding but does not allow UK to interfere

Foreign ministry official clarifies colleague’s remarks and says nation is committed to uphold ‘one country, two systems’ under the Basic Law

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Xu Hong insists the joint declaration remains a legally binding treaty. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 4:15pm, 8 Jul 2017Updated: 5:17pm, 11 Jul 2017

Beijing conceded on Saturday that the Sino-British Joint Declaration was legally binding, but insisted the 1984 treaty to enable Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997 did not give Britain the right to interfere in the city’s affairs.

Xu Hong, director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s treaty and law department, sought to clarify a colleague’s recent remarks suggesting the irrelevance of the treaty. He also assured Hong Kong that Beijing was committed to upholding the “one country, two systems” policy – not under the treaty, but because of a commitment in the city’s mini-constitution.

Xu was referring to ministry spokesman Lu Kang’s statement on June 30, the eve of the 20th handover anniversary, that the treaty had become “a historical document that no longer has any realistic meaning” and did not have “any binding power on how China administers Hong Kong”.

Britain hit back at Lu, insisting the treaty remained legally binding and it was committed to monitoring its implementation.

On the sidelines of an international law conference in Hong Kong on Saturday, Xu noted the concerns over Lu’s statement.