British report warns Beijing is increasing pressure on Hong Kong’s basic rights and freedoms
Foreign Office says city is generally stable but some protests ‘more volatile’ than usual
The British government has warned of Beijing’s increased pressure on basic rights and freedoms in Hong Kong and “more volatile” street demonstrations that have caused clashes between police and protesters.
These points were not in the annual Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Overseas Business Risk report on the city last year.
Published on the government’s website on Monday, this year’s document on doing business in the city contained eight sections covering topics such as government, human rights, the economy and the threat of terrorism.
It said while basic rights and freedoms were generally well respected in Hong Kong, there were “some concerns that the increased influence of the [central government] had led to increased pressure on many of them in recent years”.
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And while the city was generally a stable society underpinned by the rule of law, with demonstrations typically being peaceful and orderly, it noted that “some have been more volatile than usual, resulting in confrontations between police and protesters”.
