Beijing’s new tactic of fighting war on democracy through travel bans has taken another turn. An influential group of British MPs has reacted with fury after being told they will not be allowed to gain entry to Hong Kong.
The Foreign Affairs Select Committee was planning on visiting as part of a Parliamentary inquiry scrutinising British diplomatic work in Hong Kong 30 years after the joint declaration that led to the handover in 1997.
Chairman of the group Sir Richard Ottowoy has called the controversial move by the Chinese government “overtly confrontational” and said he will demand an emergency debate on the matter in the House of Commons.
The Foreign Office has also released a statement stressing that the Committee is independent of the British government and that the refusal to allow access is “regrettable”.
The statement added that such action was “not in the spirit” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, especially following the recognition that the UK and China have “considerable shared interests in respect to Hong Kong” during Premier Li’s visit to London earlier this year.
Last month, a group of Hong Kong protest leaders were denied entry to Beijing.
Surely if no-one is allowed to travel anywhere, all this silly democracy stuff will sort itself out
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