Members of Parliament urge UK Foreign Secretary to challenge participation of Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee in British Chamber of Commerce Summit
Today, nine Members of the British Parliament – Hong Kong Watch Patron Lord Alton of Liverpool, Hong Kong Watch Patron Sarah Champion MP, Hong Kong Watch Patron Alistair Carmichael MP, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle, Phil Brickell MP, Will Forster MP, Charlotte Nichols MP, Vikki Slade MP and Nadia Whittome MP – sent a letter to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, urging him to challenge the participation of Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee and the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) top diplomat in Hong Kong Cui Jianchun at the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong’s ‘BritCham Hong Kong Summit 2024’ taking place tomorrow.
The Summit is one of the largest events for international businesses in Hong Kong, and seeks to promote investment and business activity in the city. The Members of Parliament express their concern that the participation of Mr Lee and Mr Cui will serve as a tacit endorsement of the national security regime which both individuals have overseen and implemented, as a consequence of which the UK government has announced that it considers the PRC to be in ‘ongoing breach’ of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and launched the BNO visa scheme, which 191,000 BNO Hong Kongers have used to start new lives in Britain since 2021.
Additionally, given that the business environment in Hong Kong is declining due to the repression of the Hong Kong government, the Members of Parliament also implore the Foreign Secretary to update the UK’s March 2024 ‘Overseas business risk: Hong Kong’ to specify which clauses of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance might apply and pose a risk to UK businesses. The US updated their Hong Kong Business Advisory on 6 September 2024, warning US businesses about the risks of continuing to operate in Hong Kong.
The letter concludes: “We do not consider it wise for the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong to provide a platform for Mr Lee and Mr Cui to extol the virtues of a national security regime which the FCDO officially considers to have violated the PRC’s international treaty commitments signed with the British government.”
The Members of Parliament await a response from the Foreign Secretary.
Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland and Patron of Hong Kong Watch, said:
“We hope the Foreign Secretary will seriously consider the implications of the British Chamber of Commerce not only hosting but providing a platform for John Lee and Cui Jianchun. Both of these individuals continue to be leaders in implementing the 2020 National Security Law and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which has led to hundreds of political imprisonments, the forced closure of media outlets and civil society organisations, and the ongoing destruction of the human rights environment in Hong Kong. The UK government has raised red flags regarding these laws over the past four years and must remain consistent in its message that Britain has no tolerance for the breaching of international laws and threatening the rights and freedoms of millions of Hong Kongers in the city and around the world.”
英議員聯署促請外相就李家超參加英商會峰會提出質疑
今天，九位英國國會議員，包括三位香港監察贊助人：上議員奧爾頓勳爵（Lord Alton of Liverpool）、下議員柴萍恩（Sarah Champion MP）、甘文康（Alistair Carmichael MP），以及上議員本內特女男爵（Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle）、下議員Phil Brickell MP、Will Forster MP、Charlotte Nichols MP、Vikki Slade MP和Nadia Whittome MP，聯署致函英國外交大臣林德偉（David Lammy），促請他就香港行政長官李家超和中國外交部駐香港特派員公署特派員崔建春參加明天舉行的香港英商會（British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong）「2024年英商會香港峰會」（BritCham Hong Kong Summit 2024）一事提出質疑。
有關峰會是香港國際企業大型活動之一，旨在推廣香港的投資和商業活動。聯署議員表示擔心李家超和崔建春的參與會默許認可兩人監督並實施的國家安全制度。因為這種制度，英國政府宣布，指中國『持續違反』1984年《中英聯合聲明》，並推出BNO簽證計劃，而自2021年起已有191,000名BNO港人透過計劃在英國開展新生活。
此外，鑒於香港營商環境因香港政府的打壓而不斷惡化，聯署議員亦促請外相更新英國2024年3月的《海外經商風險：香港》（Overseas business risk: Hong Kong），明確指出哪項《維護國家安全條例》（俗稱23條）條款可能適用並對英國企業構成風險。美國在2024年9月6日更新了《香港經商建議》（Hong Kong Business Advisory），警告美國企業繼續在香港營商的風險。
信中最後寫道：「我們認為香港英商會為李家超和崔建春提供平台來宣揚國家安全制度的優勢並不明智，英國外交部已正式表示這種制度違反了中國與英國政府簽訂的國際條約承諾。」
聯署議員正等候外相的回覆。
Orkney and Shetland選區自由民主黨下議員、香港監察贊助人甘文康表示：
「我們希望外相嚴正考慮英商會招待李家超和崔建春並為他們提供平台的潛在後果。兩人持續領導實施2020年《國家安全法》和2024年《維護國家安全條例》，導致數以百計人被政治監禁、傳媒和民間組織被迫關閉、香港人權狀況持續受破壞。英國政府在過去四年已就這些法例發出警告，現必須保持一貫態度，表明英國不會容忍違反國際法，以及威脅數百萬身在香港乃至世界各地港人權利和自由的行為。」