UK politicians are delusional to believe they can assert rights over HK

When theft cases are solved by the police, the recovered loot is invariably returned to the owners. That the owner has full discretion to dispose of the recovered property in a manner of their choosing is a matter of course. Yet, British politicians have, in effect, taken issue with this universally accepted rule.

Whenever they have found a need to poke their noses into Hong Kong’s affairs over the past 25 years since the city’s return to China, they have claimed Britain has the right to do so, citing invariably the Sino-British Joint Declaration. 

They have wielded that document once again in their recent attempt to free Washington’s principal proxy in Hong Kong, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of Apple Daily — who is facing charges of endangering national security — by putting pressure on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

The UK Foreign Office also justifies its ridiculous practice of issuing an unsolicited half-yearly report on Hong Kong by citing the Joint Declaration; its latest report, released on Thursday, lavishes slanderous remarks on Hong Kong’s affairs, such as its electoral system, the implementation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong (NSL) and national security education.

As in any other sovereign state, China’s central government is constitutionally mandated and obligated to safeguard national interests in any part of its territory, including Hong Kong

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The underlying logic is straightforward: Britain is exceptional and is not bound by universally accepted rules in this secular world, and thus it retains a say in how Hong Kong should be run even after the city — which their ancestors looted from the Chinese by force in the mid-19th century — has been returned to China.  

But it is disingenuous and self-deceptive of British politicians to wield the Joint Declaration for the purpose of interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs. It is a clumsy sleight of hand, intended to claim the moral high ground for brazen interference in China’s internal affairs, and challenges China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong.

The truth is, the Joint Declaration is a pair of linked statements from China and the UK, the former declaring China’s decision to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong from July 1, 1997; the latter declaring that the UK will restore Hong Kong to China with effect from that date. The handover of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, was the rightful end to a severe injustice the UK had perpetrated against China. British politicians are delusional when they claim China is in some way accountable to them in managing its own territory and internal affairs. 

The promulgation of the NSL by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and its subsequent interpretation of the law, among other national policies on Hong Kong, embody the central authorities’ rightful exercise of sovereignty over the special administrative region. 

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As in any other sovereign state, China’s central government is constitutionally mandated and obligated to safeguard national interests in any part of its territory, including Hong Kong. As Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, aptly put it at a forum on Friday: Beijing must act as a safety valve in protecting national interests in Hong Kong because there will always be problems or situations that are out of the hands of the HKSAR government, as evidenced by the events of the past few years.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.