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China Says Sino-British Joint Declaration On Hong Kong No Longer Binding

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday August 13 2019, @11:57AM   
from the he-said-she-said dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

China said on Friday the joint declaration with Britain over Hong Kong, which laid the blueprint over how the city would be ruled after its return to China in 1997, was a historical document that no longer had any practical significance.

In response, Britain said the declaration remained in force and was a legally valid treaty to which it was committed to upholding.

The stark announcement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, that is sure to raise questions over Beijing’s commitment to Hong Kong’s core freedoms, came the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Hong Kong the “one country, two systems” formula was recognized “by the whole world”.

It was not immediately clear if Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang was attacking just the idea of continued British involvement in Hong Kong, which marks the 20th anniversary of Chinese rule on Saturday, or the principles in the document.

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Original Submission

• For those that don't know... For those that don't know... (Score: 5, Informative) by janrinok on Tuesday August 13 2019, @05:53PM (1 child)

  by janrinok (52) on Tuesday August 13 2019, @05:53PM (#879761) Journal

  The Sino-British Joint Declaration [wikipedia.org] states:

  In accordance with the "one country, two systems" principle agreed between the UK and the PRC, the socialist system of PRC would not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and its way of life would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years until 2047. The Joint Declaration provides that these basic policies should be stipulated in the Hong Kong Basic Law and that the socialist system and socialist policies shall not be practised in HKSAR. However, with the start of the Umbrella Revolution in 2014, a campaign against the perceived infringements in the HKSAR by mainland China, the British Foreign Office announced that Chinese officials now treat the Joint Declaration as "void".

  [emphasis mine]

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• Re:For those that don't know... (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 13 2019, @07:07PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 13 2019, @07:07PM (#879792)

  There are multiple countries, nay continents, that must be laughing at how pathetic the British have become. It really does look rather hopeless for them - China don't give a fuck, whatcha gonna do? Europe will be happy to watch this humiliation right before they hand out the next humiliation of refusing to grant an extension when they come begging. Although long term the Brits must be counting on Europe letting them back in, which to be fair they probably will do thanks to their ingrained socialist safety net idealogy.

  Parent