China has broken its agreement with the UK to let Hong Kong govern its own borders for at least 50 years in a move that must not go unchallenged, senior MPs said on Tuesday. In an emergency debate in the House of Commons, MPs from all parties called on the government to condemn China after it refused a House of Commons delegation entry to the former British overseas territory. The MPs on the foreign affairs committee had been hoping to investigate the governance of Hong Kong as a part of a Commons inquiry at a time when there are violent clashes on the streets between the police and pro-democracy campaigners. The proposed visit was part of an inquiry into Hong Kong’s relations with the UK 30 years after the joint declaration that led to the handover to China in 1997, under which the territory has the right to a degree of autonomy. However, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying has dismissed the UK’s objections as useless and claimed Beijing has responsibility for who is allowed into Hong Kong. “China’s opposition to any foreign government, organisation or individual interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs in any form is resolute,” Hua told a daily news briefing, according to Reuters. “If certain people in Britain still want to keep on like this, it is not only irrational and useless but like lifting up a rock to drop it on one’s foot.” She said the MPs were not there to conduct “a normal, friendly visit but to carry out a so-called investigation on Chinese territory”. “We do not need any foreign lawmakers to carry out probes. I hope they can clearly see this basic reality,” she said. MPs have reacted with fury to the decision, saying it is unprecedented in the history of Commons foreign affairs committee trips to countries such as Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. During the lengthy debate, Sir Richard Ottaway, the chairman of the committee, said the move “would only harm China’s reputation and financial interest in an increasingly global world”. A range of senior politicians who have chaired select committees also lined up to criticise China’s decision, including Sir Gerald Kaufman, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Sir John Stanley and Mike Gapes. In particular, Stanley, a senior Conservative, said he was “disappointed” with the reaction of the Foreign Office for only saying the ban was “regrettable”. Kaufman said trade was important but “so is morality” as he called for the UK to take a stronger stance, even at the expense of business with China. So far, the prime minister’s official spokesman has said the decision is a “mistaken one” and “counter-productive because it only serves to amplify concerns about the situation in Hong Kong, rather than diminishing concerns”. Hugo Swire, the Foreign Office minister with responsibility for China affairs, has also met a senior Chinese Communist party official, Guo Yezhou, in London in an effort to persuade Beijing to grant visas. Swire emphasised that the foreign affairs committee was independent from the government, and that the proposed visit did not therefore amount to the UK government meddling in China’s internal affairs. The foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, also raised the issue with his counterpart, Wang Yi, at the margins of nuclear talks in Vienna last week. The UK and China have been seeking to repair ties, which have been strained since Cameron met the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, in 2012. The British government is also conducting an urgent inquiry into the use of UK-made teargas by the Hong Kong police in light of renewed and violent clashes in the former UK colony. British teargas was used by Hong Kong police against demonstrators on 28 September, ministers have confirmed. Hong Kong is supposed to retain wide-ranging freedoms and autonomy under a “one country, two systems” formula. A wave of demonstrations in the country has been triggered by Beijing’s attempts to control nominations for 2017 presidential elections. 中國已經打破了它與英國達成協議，讓香港的管治自己的邊界，至少50年的這一舉動絕不能聽之任之，資深國會議員週二表示。 從呼籲政府譴責中國後，拒絕下議院代表團進入前英國海外領地各方下議院，議員緊急辯論。在外交事務委員會的議員們一直希望香港的管治研究作為一個共享詢價時，有警察和親民主活動家之間的街頭暴力衝突時的一部分。 建議的訪問是一個調查，香港的中英聯合聲明，導致在回歸中國97年，在其領土上有一定程度的自治權後，英國30年關係的一部分。 不過，中國外交部發言人華春瑩已經駁回了英國的反對無用，並聲稱北京對誰被允許進入香港的責任。 “中國反對任何外國政府，組織或個人干預香港事務任何形式的堅決，”華告訴每日新聞發布會上，據路透社報導。 “如果某些人在英國仍想繼續這樣的，它不僅是不合理的，無用的，但就像舉起石頭砸自己的腳。” 她說，國會議員不在那裡進行“正常的，友好訪問，但開展對中國境內所謂的調查”。 “我們不需要任何外國立法者進行探測。我希望他們可以清楚地看到這個基本事實，“她說。 國會議員反應與憤怒的決定，稱這是前所未有的下議院外交事務委員會的旅行史的國家，如伊朗，俄羅斯，沙特阿拉伯和阿富汗。 在長時間的辯論，理查德爵士奧特維，該委員會的主席，他說，此舉“只會損害中國的聲譽和經濟利益在日益全球化的世界”。 一系列誰曾主持專責委員會，也列隊批評中國的決定，其中包括爵士杰拉爾德·考夫曼，里夫金德爵士，約翰·斯坦利爵士和邁克Gapes資深政治家。 尤其士丹利資深保守黨，說他“失望”與外交部只說這一禁令是“遺憾”的反應。考夫曼說，貿易是重要的，但“這樣的道德”，他呼籲英國採取更強硬的立場，甚至不惜與中國的消費業務。 到目前為止，首相的官方發言人已經表示，這個決定是一個“錯誤的一”和“反效果，因為它只會放大的擔憂在香港的情況，而不是減少的擔憂”。 雨果太古，外交部部長與中國事務的責任，也遇到了在努力說服北京發放簽證在倫敦的資深中國共產黨官員，過耶皺。 太古強調，外交事務委員會是獨立於政府的，而且所提出的訪問並沒有因此構成對英國政府插手中國的內部事務。外交大臣菲利普·哈蒙德，也與他的對手，王益提出了這個問題，在上週維也納核談判的空間。 英國和中國一直在尋求修復關係，已緊張的，因為卡梅倫會見達賴，西藏的精神領袖，在2012年英國政府也進行了緊急調查由香港使用英國製造的催淚瓦斯民警在光前英國殖民地更新和暴力衝突。英國催淚瓦斯被利用對9月28日的示威香港警方，部長們證實。 香港應該保持在“一個國家，兩種制度”的公式廣泛的自由和自主權。在國內A浪的示威已經引起了中國政府試圖控制提名為2017年總統選舉。
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 03:33:50 +0000
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