United Kingdom: Member of Parliament Raises Concern to UK Foreign Ministry and Hong Kong Government over Article 23 Legislation
(Clearwisdom.net) On the 4th of October, UK Member of Parliament Mr. Alan Simpson wrote to
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and the Hong Kong Chief Executive to express his concern about the
proposed Article 23 legislation, particularly the proscription mechanism that could be used to ban
any group China does not like. The proposed legislation has become the most widely opposed proposal in HK since
its handover to China five years ago and a recent survey shows that 52% of Hong Kong residents
oppose the legislation with only 27% supporting it. In its reply to Mr Simpson's enquiry regarding the Article 23 legislation, the UK
Foreign Ministry stated on the 23rd October that the proposed proscription mechanism "is one of
the provisions in the consultation document which has caused concern in Hong Kong. We are following
closely the debate in Hong Kong on this." The UK Foreign Ministry also stated that they "have been following this
issue [Article 23 legislation] closely, as can be seen from regular reports to Parliament on
Hong Kong. Senior visitors to Hong Kong, including the Foreign Secretary in July, have raised this
as an issue with their SAR [Hong Kong] Government interlocutors. [...] These important
principles [rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms] must not be compromised. We
have also stressed the importance of the SAR Government undertaking full public consultation on its
proposals." The Hong Kong authority has so far refused widespread calls for a white paper for
public consultation on the exact wording of the proposed law, which threatens to bring mainland
style repression of dissidents to Hong Kong.
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