MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) Beijing's decision to impose a new national security law and dismiss several lawmakers in Hong Kong have led the United Kingdom to question China's commitment to the "one country, two systems" framework, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a fresh report on Monday.
"However, Beijing's decisions to impose the National Security Law and then, a few months later, to disqualify elected legislators, represent two substantive breaches of the Joint Declaration in just five months. This calls into serious question China's commitment to the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework," Raab wrote in the 47th six-monthly report on Hong Kong delivered to the UK parliament.
The foreign secretary said that it was not too late for China to attempt to "heal divisions" created in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region following more than a year of widespread opposition protests.
The "one country, two systems" principle was established when Hong Kong and Macau became special administrative regions of China in 1997 and 1999, respectively. The constitutional policy foresaw the two aforementioned regions having their own legal, economic, and governmental systems.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 30 signed into effect a new security law that outlaws subversive, secessionist, and terrorist activities in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
In November, the Chinese National People's Congress Standing Committee ruled that Hong Kong's parliament could no longer have lawmakers who openly supported the region's independence. Four lawmakers were subsequently expelled, prompting international condemnation.
The Chinese government has consistently condemned the international community for commenting on the current security situation in Hong Kong. Beijing considers the matter to be an internal one for the Chinese government.
