Hong Kong National Security Legislation

Gavin Newlands Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. One of the challenges for us as China exerts all its economic and diplomatic leverage to sway countries either to support it or to stay quiet on these issues is to make sure that people and other countries understand what is at stake. That is why it is important that in framing this issue, we talk not just about the human rights and autonomy of the people of Hong Kong, but about the quintessential issue of trust—trust in China’s ability to keep its word, freely given as in the joint declaration.

[Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)]

Before the handover, John Major said that if there were any suggestion of a breach of the joint declaration, we would have a duty to pursue every legal and other avenue available to us. What avenues are the Government pursuing to respond to the national security law, which dismantles the one country, two systems law. Will the Foreign Secretary consider lodging a case as a signatory to the Sino-British declaration with the International Court of Justice?

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Gentleman is not the first person to raise the question of the ICJ, but as hon. Members may know, unless it is under the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court, we cannot submit a case to the Court without the consent of the other side, and it is very clear that China would not accept that. I did raise the question of third-party adjudication with my Chinese opposite number, but it is clear that the Chinese will not accept that. There is no easy adjudicative route, but I hope that I have reassured the hon. Gentleman that we have already looked at that very carefully.