Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 8157 on Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing consular status from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in the context of Hong Kong no longer being an independent territory.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Act 1996 provides the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office with certain privileges and immunities in line with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations for the purposes of furthering economic and trade interests. There are no current plans to replace this legislation.