Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of religious freedom in Hong Kong.

The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, including Hong Kongers, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities.

The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a legally binding treaty between the UK and China, and under this China committed to uphold Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and protect the rights and freedoms of its people. This explicitly includes freedom of expression and freedom of religious belief.

However, the Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly used the National Security Law (NSL) to curtail freedoms, punish dissent and shrink the space for political opposition. We remain concerned about the growing use of the NSL to suppress freedom of expression and what this may mean for FoRB.