Hong Kong news – live: China warns UK not to ‘interfere’ in territory as officials ban popular protest slogan
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Your support makes all the difference.China has said it would take “corresponding measures” if Boris Johnson’s government pushes forward with its plan to give three million Hong Kong residents the chance to settle in the UK. The Chinese foreign ministry claimed the offer violated previous agreements.
As Beijing faces international condemnation for imposing a new security law on the city, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison suggested his government may follow the UK in offering visas to Hong Kong citizens.
It came as the US Senate approved a bill imposing sanctions on Chinese officials and any Hong Kong police units clashing with protesters. China’s foreign ministry warned of “strong countermeasures” against the US if the bill becomes law.
UK urged to halt exports of tear gas and arms
Campaigners are calling for a halt of exports of tear gas and arms to Hong Kong amid concerns that UK-made riot control equipment may have been used against pro-democracy demonstrators.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) demanded an investigation into whether UK-produced kit has been used in the brutal police crackdown on protests against the imposition of the new security law.
Information compiled by CAAT showed that the UK has licensed at last £9.5m worth of arms exports to Hong Kong since an earlier crackdown saw British-made tear gas used on pro-democracy campaigners in 2014.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more details:
New security law ‘turns Hong Kong into a Chinese police state’
The Hong Kong-based journalist Stuart Heaver thinks the new security law imposed on Hong Kong threatens reporting freedoms in the territory.
“Make no mistake: this new law sanctions a police state and outlaws anything that Beijing considers to be a threat to national security, which is often a euphemism for anything, or anyone, that the ruling Communist Party of China (CCP) disapproves of,” he writes.
“Thousands are hastily deleting their social media accounts and disbanding their advocacy groups.”
Read more here:
Security law threatens students in UK, says top Tory MP
Influential Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the House of Commons’ foreign affairs committee, has shared concerns that the new security could be applied to Hong Kong residents visiting or living in Britain – and could affect students in particular.
He warned it could have “direct implications on our own university sector and on freedom of speech within our own academic institutions”
Tugendhat said “Chinese students have already been influenced to silence debate and change outcomes here in the UK”.
Britain will ‘bear all consequences’ if it pushes ahead with citizenship plan
Our Asia editor Adam Withnall has taken a closer look at today’s statement by China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.
Zhao told a daily briefing that Beijing reserved the right to respond against the UK if Boris Johnson’s pushed ahead with plans to offer 2.9 million Hong Kong citizens with British National Overseas status a route to citizenship.
Without specifying what this might entail, Zhao said that Britain would “bear all the consequences” of any moves China decides to take.
Read more here:
New law ‘worse than the worst-case scenario predicted’
Hong Kong lawyer and academic Eric Cheung wrote on Facebook that the new security law was “worse than the worst-case scenario he had predicted”, according to a translation by the Hong Kong Free Press.
He said the text represented the spirit of China’s socialist legal system rather than Hong Kong’s independent judiciary, based on common law.
The academic also highlighted a clause in the new law that says it applies to anyone harming the interests of Hong Kong, regardless of where they are in the world or their nationality.
“All eight billion people in the world should read the Hong Kong national security law thoroughly, to avoid unwittingly breaking the law,” he said.
No 10: Details of citizenship route will be set out ‘in coming months’
Downing Street is standing firm on the plan to offer Hong Kongers with British National (Overseas) status a path to British citizenship despite the prospect of retaliatory measures from Beijing.
“We were very clear in the action we would take if China imposed this law. We will now do exactly what we said we would do,” the Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said.
Final details of the scheme for BNO citizens will be set out by the Home Office “in the coming months”, the spokesman added.
Activists discussing Hong Kong ‘parliament-in-exile’, campaigner says
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are discussing a plan to create an unofficial parliament-in-exile, campaigner Simon Cheng.
“A shadow parliament can send a very clear signal to Beijing and the Hong Kong authorities that democracy need not be at the mercy of Beijing,” he told Reuters in London. “We want to set up non-official civic groups that surely reflect the views of the Hong Kong people.”
He said that while the idea was still at an early stage, such a parliament-in-exile would support the people of Hong Kong and the pro-democracy movement there.
Cheng also predicted “hundreds of thousands” of people would come to take the opportunity to come to the UK after Boris Johnson offered millions of Hong Kong residents the path to British citizenship.
Mr Cheng, who said on Wednesday that the UK government had accepted his application for asylum, has alleged he was beaten and tortured in China.
He worked at Hong Kong’s British consulate for two years.
Simon Cheng (Reuters)
Nandy calls for ‘comprehensive set of measures’ to protect Hong Kong
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy has said the UK must work towards developing a “comprehensive set of measures” to protect Hong Kong citizens.
How many people from Hong Kong could be eligible for UK residency?
Earlier this week, the UK government said it would offer Hong Kong residents who hold British National Overseas (BNO) passports the chance to settle in the UK and eventually seek citizenships.
But how many people could end moving to the UK and how will the system be implemented?
Our reporter, Kate Ng, has the full story below:
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