David Cameron: Beijing 'mistaken' to plan ban on British MPs from Hong Kong amid protests
Pro-democracy protesters have been campaigning heavily since September
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Your support makes all the difference.Prime Minister David Cameron is warning China of its "mistaken" and "counter-productive" plans to ban British politicians and lawmakers entering Hong Kong as civil unrest escalates.
While protesters clash with police outside government headquarters in rallies that started in September, MPs are pressing for an emergency Commons debate after Beijing said it would not allow MPs from the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee to enter the former British colony.
Downing Street said that the action has "amplified" concerns about the situation in Hong Kong, which has had some autonomy from Beijing under the "one country, two systems" arrangements implemented when the UK handed back control in 1997.
China has accused the British government of interfering in national matters despite protesters relentlessly campaigning against political reform, which would prevent them from choosing their leaders in the 2017 elections without interference from Beijing.
Thousands of pro-democracy activists clashed with officers as they surrounded government buildings with wooden shields and metal fence barriers despite police orders to keep away from the area after two months of demos and clearing of protest camps in the Mong Kok district.
Mr Cameron's official spokesman told a regular Westminster media briefing: "The Prime Minister's view is that the decision with regard to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee is a mistaken one.
"We will continue to have a dialogue with the Chinese authorities on this, both through the Foreign Office here in London with the Chinese Embassy in London and through our embassy in Beijing.
"The argument that we will be taking forward with the Chinese authorities is that the reason why the Prime Minister thinks it is a mistaken decision is because it is counter-productive. It only serves to amplify concerns about the situation in Hong Kong, rather than diminishing concerns."
The spokesman said dialogue over the situation in Hong Kong was going on at official level between London and Beijing, and that Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond raised the issue with his Chinese counterpart when they met in Vienna for talks on Iran's nuclear programme last week.
As a co-signatory to the 1984 joint declaration which underpinned the handover of sovereignty over Hong Kong to China, the UK has "a legitimate concern" and "understandable" wish to scrutinise the implementation of its terms, said the spokesman.
Committee chairman Sir Richard Ottaway said they had been told by the Chinese embassy that would be turned back if they tried to enter Hong Kong, which they had been planning to visit as part of an inquiry into its relations with the UK 30 years after the joint declaration.
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