Britain’s foreign secretary Philip Hammond arrived in Hong Kong on Friday as part of an East Asian tour. Hammond will meet Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and the Chief Justice.
The Foreign Commonwealth Office stated that Hammond will restate the UK’s commitment as co-signatory to the Joint Declaration and support for Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, rights and freedoms.
“Hong Kong is of great importance to the UK and Britain’s longstanding commitment, as a co-signatory of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, is as strong as ever,” Hammond said. “Although the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ model is generally working well in Hong Kong, concerns have been raised over the recent booksellers’ case. With strong Rule of Law and a high degree of autonomy, Hong Kong continues to be a global hub for finance, business and legal services.”
Hammond will also visit the new Admiralty MTR station, meet members of Scotland’s Rugby 7s team and meet with local and British businesses before heading to the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Japan.
Five booksellers connected with Causeway Bay Books and Mighty Current publishing, which specialises in Chinese political gossip titles, all went missing late last year, only to resurface in the mainland later.
