Hong Kong: MPs hold emergency debate on Chinese rebuff

December 2, 2014;

Demonstrations over the election of Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017 have taken place for two months

A decision by China to ban a committee of MPs visiting Hong Kong “is wrong and will have a profound impact”, the Commons has heard.

The Foreign Affairs Committee has been told it cannot make a planned trip to the ex-UK colony, which has seen months of pro-democracy protests.

Chair Sir Richard Ottaway said: “This is a manifestly irresponsible and incorrect position take.”

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said it was up to Beijing to decide.

Hua Chunying said: “China’s opposition to any foreign government, organisation or individual interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs in any form is resolute,” she told a daily news briefing.

The British MPs did not want to visit Hong Kong for “a normal friendly visit but to carry out a so-called investigation on Chinese territory”, she said.

‘Interference’

But in a rare emergency debate, granted by Commons Speaker John Bercow, Sir Richard told MPs he had received several warnings from Chinese officials opposed to his committee’s plans to visit before the end of the year.

In July, the Chinese ambassador to London told him “the affairs of the Hong Kong administration were purely China’s international affairs”.

“He was opposed to any interference and he concluded with advice that the committee should not make its planned visit to Hong Kong in December,” he said.

In November, China’s commissioner to Hong Kong said the visit would be viewed as support for the protesters and other illegal activities. The Chinese embassy informed him the committee “would not be allowed into Hong Kong for the purposes of our inquiry”, he added.

Democracy

Sir Richard said decisions on who should be allowed into the former colony were a matter for Hong Kong and not the Chinese government.

“This decision points to China’s direction of travel,” he said. “If there’s a commitment to democracy in Hong Kong you first have to understand democracy.”

Emergency debates are rare in the House of Commons. They can last for three hours and take precedence over all other business.