Hong Kong: Human Rights

(asked on 23rd June 2015) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Hong Kong.


Answered by
Lord Swire Portrait
Lord Swire
This question was answered on 30th June 2015

The rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong are enshrined in the Basic Law. The Government’s last six-monthly report (1 July – 31 December 2014) published on 26 February set out the UK position on significant issues of interest, including rule of law, freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The report stated that ‘the rule of law in Hong Kong has stood up well to the challenges in the reporting period.’ On press freedom the report stated that, ‘we welcome the statements from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government that they respect and value press freedom, but remain very concerned at the growing number of reports of threats to that freedom, including self-censorship. Freedom of expression is at the heart of "One Country, Two Systems" and is guaranteed in the Joint Declaration.’

We will continue to monitor and report on the rule of law and basic rights and freedoms in the six-monthly reports. The full report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/six-monthly-report-on-hong-kong-july-to-december-2014.

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