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British government urges Hong Kong protesters to ‘end the violence’ while calling for ‘proportionate’ police response in handling demonstrators
- London government’s stance was spelt out in its latest six-monthly parliamentary report on Hong Kong
- British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says there must be a ‘meaningful dialogue between all parties’
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Britain has called on anti-government protesters in Hong Kong to “end the violence”, while also asking police to “be proportionate” in their handling of demonstrators.
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It also noted that the nature of the protests had changed and stressed that the violence of a “hard-core minority cannot be condoned”.
London’s stance was spelt out in its latest six-monthly parliamentary report on Hong Kong, released on Thursday, which also called on the city’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, to look ahead to “the path towards de-escalation and political resolution” to break the impasse in its former colony, which has been rocked by worsening protests for almost five months.
In a foreword to the 19-page report, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote: “Protesters must end the violence. The police response must be proportionate in their handling of protesters and safeguard the right to peaceful protests. And there must be a meaningful dialogue between all parties.”
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Although the report covers the six-month period up to June 30, Raab made reference to subsequent events in his comments and noted the nature of the protests had changed over the months, “not only in terms of scale and scope, but also in terms of approach”.
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