Hong Kong: Human Rights Debate
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Lord Hope of Craighead
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Hong Kong: Human Rights
Lord Hope of Craighead Excerpts(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Lord Hope of Craighead (CB)
My Lords, two UK banks have indicated their support for the proposed national security law on the basis that this will stabilise Hong Kong’s social order—but everything depends on how this is done. Article 23 of the Basic Law makes it clear that making laws to prohibit matters with which the proposed law seeks to deal is for the region to deal with “on its own”. Article 18, which permits the addition of new laws, states that these should be confined to matters outside the limits of the region’s autonomy, such as defence and foreign affairs, which is not the case here.
We have yet to see the details, but there are real grounds for concern that civil and political rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press, will be infringed. Does the Minister agree that it is crucial that the independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary, which lies at the heart of the Basic Law, should not be undermined in any way by what is proposed?