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Guest commentary by Tian Feilong 

In the beginning of 2017, the British government submitted the newest HK Report to its parliament, which gave its comments and concerns on HK affairs and involved the interference with China’s sovereignty. 

According to UK’s interpretation, the legal foundation of this report is the Sino-UK Joint Declaration, meanwhile the historical connection and interest relationship between UK and HK constitutes the political foundation of such concern. UK’s reasons are not correct. 

The Declaration is an international agreement between UK and China, whose content has been wholly absorbed in the HK Basic Law, and the enforcement mechanism Sino-UK Joint Connection Group also ended in 2000. 

After 1997 return, there has been no power-responsibility relationship between UK and HK. The Chinese government has rejected such concern and interference. HK’s government also expressed its standing point: after the return, UK has no sovereignty, no governing powers and no supervising power on HK. 

Such reports have been issued before the 1997 return, which have some positive role in the beginning period, but the issuing actions after 1997 have constituted a kind of expansive responsibility and rights abuse, interfered with China’s sovereignty, harmed the Sino-UK relationship and done passive influences on HK’s political development, prosperity and stability. 

The constant issuing actions of UK tell us: firstly, the empire mind and cold war thought of UK have not ended totally, and some officials, parliament members, politicians go on interfering with the Chinese sovereignty; secondly, the international appeals/activities of HK Pro-Democratic Camp especially the youth radicals have been used by UK’s political forces, which influence and change the UK’s parliamentary politics; thirdly, it is an intended operation to take the UK-HK relationship as some kind of international relationship and ignore the Sino-UK relationship as the real equal international relationship. 

From the perspective of the practical utility, such reports have almost no institutional influence, which only serve as a kind of diplomatic concern and opinion of some UK’s politicians. 

2017 is the year of 20 Return Anniversary. The enforcement of One Country Two Systems and HK Basic Law is good in total, but also faces some serious challenges like universal suffrage, economic transformation and identity construction. 

Such challenges belong to the internal affairs of China. Do unto others as you would be done. If China would issue report on Scotland problem, UK would not accept it. It is the right road for UK to stop issuing such reports, respect the Chinese sovereignty on HK, take the UK-HK relationship into account of the international law framework of the Sino-UK relationship and think/act rationally. 

附：

原文：Opinion: UK’S Report on HK Interferes with China’s Sovereignty

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