China attacked Britain with an incredible attack yesterday.
In a statement issued just hours after new elections in Hong Kong – which were condemned as a ‘sham’ by critics – Beijing said calls for democratic reform were repeatedly rejected under British rule, and the UK had restricted freedom of speech while racially discriminating against Chinese residents.
Lord Patten was Hong Kong’s former British governor. He dismissed the allegations as “mendacious” and claimed that China had been waging an ‘intense and vengeful destruction’ of liberties in the colony.
After winning 19 seats at the Hong Kong Legislative Election, members of pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong clap their hands in a press conference
Beijing introduced last year a severe national security law to curb dissent, and push Chinese values.
Pro-Beijing candidates were victorious in this weekend’s local elections. This was after an ‘patriotic vetting’ process which effectively barred most prodemocracy activists from entering the race.
Since China’s introduction of the security law, others have been disqualified and jailed or exiled abroad.
Liz Truss (Foreign Secretary) joined with other nations to voice ‘grave concerns’ about the results, which were achieved after a record-breaking low of 30% turnout.
Beijing blamed Covid, as well as ‘anti China elements’ for the drastic drop in turnout. Some protestors called for boycotting the vote. The largest pro-democracy organization, the Democratic Party had no candidate for the first time in 1997.
One of the 90 seats at the Legislative Council (the city’s official parliament) was held by an alleged ‘opposition-leaning” candidate.
Beijing released a government paper about Hong Kong’s democratic progress hours after the election results were announced. The document claimed that China had “designed, created, protected and promoted Hong Kong’s democratic system”.
The Global Times, a state newspaper reported that the white paper said there was “no genuine democracy” under British rule. The colonial government had “maintained a restrictive rule in Hong Kong by tightly controlling the Presses and restricting freedom speech.”
Liz Truss, foreign secretary (photo from earlier this year), joined other countries in expressing ‘grave concerns’ about the results. It came following a record low of 30% turnout
Lord Patten (the governor of Hong Kong) said that China had resisted every attempt to implement democracy for the past five years.
‘But we were developing democratic systems in Hong Kong. Half of the legislators were elected. China’s mendaciousness is well known. We also know they keep their promises.
“They are systematically and vengefully working to destroy freedom in Hong Kong including freedom of speech and the rule of the law.
“I worry about Hong Kong and its future, as well as the safety of Hong Kongers,”
Lord Patten stated that Sunday’s election was’shamefully fraudulent’, and that Beijing had selected the winning candidates. They were not elected by voters.
Over 300,000. Hong Kong residents hold British National (Overseas), passports. These are granted to permanent residents of British Dependent Territories who were citizens prior to 1997. A new scheme was created last year that allowed 89,000 people to apply for permission to live and work in Britain.
v.allen@dailymail.co.uk