Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his (a) Hong Kong and (b) Chinese counterparts on the scale of protests in Hong Kong since the local elections in that territory.

The Foreign Secretary summoned the Chinese Ambassador on 19 November and set out his concerns about the situation in Hong Kong. The Foreign Secretary has previously set out concerns directly to both the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, and to the Chinese Foreign Minister, State Councillor Wang Yi. Since the District Council elections, officials have remained in regular contact with the Hong Kong SAR government and the authorities in Beijing. They have stressed the urgent need for political dialogue and underlined that the peaceful conduct of the elections demonstrates political engagement is the way to resolve the current impasse. The leadership in China and Hong Kong is in no doubt about the strength of UK concern, and our commitment to seeing the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Joint Declaration upheld.

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