British peer dismisses Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s criticism of NGO report as ‘overreaction’
Hong Kong Watch co-founder Paddy Ashdown says it was ‘absolutely within terms’ of Sino-British Joint Declaration for him to speak out
The British peer who published a damning report about the former colony last week has dismissed as an overreaction the Hong Kong leader’s claim that he had interfered in Chinese affairs.
Paddy Ashdown, a co-founder of the London-based Hong Kong Watch group, insisted on Wednesday that it was “absolutely within the terms” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration for him to speak out.
The former Liberal Democrats leader, who is lobbying the UK government to consider giving British National (Overseas) passport holders citizenship in the long run “if things go really badly”, also called on eligible Hongkongers to claim their BNO passports.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post in the House of Lords on Wednesday, Ashdown said: “I understand the pressures that the administration in Hong Kong is under, I understand that.
“But British parliamentarians have a right to identify when the British government isn’t doing what it said it would, and when the Beijing government isn’t doing it either.”
British activist barred from Hong Kong to start NGO monitoring city
