Asia (bbabo.net), - British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley in his official statement accused the Chinese authorities of failing to comply with the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. This was announced today, January 12, TASS reports.

“There is no doubt that China is not complying with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Hong Kong's rights and freedoms have been sacrificed in order to secure greater control from Beijing, undermining Hong Kong's autonomy. China is abandoning the way of life it promised Hong Kong 25 years ago,” reads a document released on the occasion of the release of the UK’s Hong Kong State of the Union report.

In Hong Kong, he said, measures are being taken that restrict the right to freedom of speech, the media and assembly.

“Hong Kong authorities continue to arrest and prosecute those who express dissent, including senior figures, pro-democracy activists and politicians,” Cleverly added.

He vowed that London would "work constructively" with new local chief executive John Lee and judge the Hong Kong government "by its actions".

The Joint Sino-British Declaration, signed in 1984, determined the procedure for transferring Hong Kong to China, which at that time was under British jurisdiction. According to the provisions of the document, from July 1, 1997, in accordance with the concept of "one country - two systems", the PRC government became responsible for foreign policy and territorial defense. Hong Kong largely enjoys the right to self-government: it exercises administrative, legislative and judicial powers.

In the summer of 2020, the Chinese Parliament passed a law on ensuring national security in Hong Kong. According to the Chinese authorities, it is aimed at combating the threats of terrorism, separatism, undermining state power, collusion with foreign forces and provides for life imprisonment as a maximum punishment. After the adoption of this legal act, many radical opposition activists curtailed their anti-government activities in the autonomy, some went abroad, others became defendants in criminal cases. The UK has repeatedly argued that the law violates provisions of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

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