Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representatives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government met the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during his visit to that region in January 2015.

On the day of my visit, the Hong Kong Government was focused on the launch of the second public consultation on constitutional reform. They were consequently unavailable to meet me. It was nevertheless valuable for me to visit Hong Kong on my way back from mainland China, in light of recent events and our ongoing interest under the Joint Declaration. I was able to meet the President of the Legislative Council and a wide range of legislators, which was particularly important given their key role in the next stage of the constitutional reform process, as well as Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma and representatives of the business community.