The British government submitted its semi-annual report on Hong Kong from July to December last year to Parliament on March 31, saying that as Hong Kong looks back on 25 years, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments continue to systematically erode the freedoms and freedoms granted to Hong Kong people by the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Human rights, including the reaffirmation of the framework that defines "one country, two systems", sacrifices the autonomy of Hong Kong and the way of life of Hong Kong people.
The preface to the report, written by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, mentioned that within two years of the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong, the opposition was suppressed, dissidents were convicted, the national security law hit civil society again, and groups were forced to disband. or self-censorship.
The Hong Kong authorities continued to take direct and unreasonable actions to suppress pro-democracy media such as Stand News, forcing such independent media to close.
Almost all of Hong Kong's democrats are now either detained, arrested or have chosen to leave Hong Kong.
And all the real opposition has been removed from the Legislative Council after the December 2021 elections, "leaving no room for meaningful political debate".
Zhuohuisi: The picture shows that on March 23, 2022, British Foreign Secretary Zhuohuisi left after attending a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in London.
(Getty)
Zhuohuisi mentioned that in view of this downward trend, after consultation with the Deputy Prime Minister, the Justice and Lord Robert Reed, the President of the British Supreme Court, it was agreed that British judges would no longer be allowed to continue to serve in the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
"As I said in the foreword to my report six months ago, this has been assessed for some time, but the political and legal situation in Hong Kong has now deteriorated to the point where UK judges can no longer be involved."
The content of the report mentioned that Wei Yande issued a statement at the end of August last year, arguing that Hong Kong's "judiciary continues to be largely independent of the government, and the judiciary's rulings are also in line with the rule of law." Wei Yande also said at the time that he noticed that the Hong Kong legal profession still Supporting the participation of foreign judges, he intends to continue to serve and continue to assess the situation in Hong Kong and discuss it with the British government.
In the preface of the report, Zhuohuisi reiterated that the British government adheres to its commitment to the BNO visa scheme for Hong Kong people.
By the end of 2021, 103,900 applications had been received.
On March 30, Wei Yande announced that he and Patrick Stewart Hodge, the vice-president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, had resigned as overseas non-permanent judges of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded the next day that the UK pressured a British non-permanent judge to resign from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal and took the opportunity to slander the Hong Kong National Security Law and interfere in China's internal affairs. China expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition.
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