Six-monthly Report on Hong Kong 1 January – 30 June 2010 Cm 7939 £5.75 Six-monthly Report on Hong Kong 1 January – 30 June 2010 Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by Command of Her Majesty September 2010 Cm 7939 £5.75 © Crown Copyright 2010 The text in this document (excluding the Royal Arms and other departmental or agency logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the document specified. Where we have identified any third party copyright material you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. ISBN: 9780101793926 Printed in the UK by The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID P002389696 09/10 5314/5371 19585 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. FOREWORD This is the twenty-seventh in a series of reports to Parliament on the implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong. It covers the period from 1 January to 30 June 2010. As Foreign Secretary in the new British Government, I would like to take the opportunity of my first six-monthly report to Parliament to stress that Britain’s commitment to Hong Kong is as strong as ever. As a signatory of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and as a country with such close ties to Hong Kong in economic, trade, education, cultural and many other fields, it is important to the UK that Hong Kong remains stable and prosperous. I look forward to continuing to deepen and develop our relationship with Hong Kong. I firmly believe that Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity are underpinned by its rights and freedoms and that the best way of guaranteeing these is by Hong Kong moving to a system of full universal suffrage in line with the promised timetable and international standards. June 2010 marked an important milestone with the passage of the Hong Kong Government’s proposals for changes to electoral arrangements in 2012. I join my Ministerial colleague Jeremy Browne in warmly welcoming the Legislative Council’s recent passage of the Hong Kong Government’s proposals for changes to electoral arrangements in 2012. I hope that the spirit of co-operation between many of the key parties involved in Hong Kong’s constitutional reform debate continues to allow for further substantive progress to be made towards full universal and equal suffrage for the election of the Chief Executive in 2017 and Legislative Council in 2020. Along with many of my counterparts in the international community, I will continue to watch with interest the next steps in Hong Kong’s constitutional reform. During the period covered in this report, Hong Kong’s economy has continued to rebound rapidly from last year’s downturn. As a major trading partner with Hong Kong and the recipient of around 80% of Hong Kong’s investment in Europe, this was good news for the UK economy as we work to ensure full recovery and long-term growth. I hope that these links between our economies will continue to grow. During my visit to China in July, I stressed the importance of China to the UK and described China and the UK as partners in growth. Hong Kong is an important part of this - with the additional element of the close connection that exists between the UK and Hong Kong. Hong Kong matters to the UK and we want to see it continue to succeed. William Hague Secretary of State For Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This series of six-monthly reports reflects the British Government’s continuing interest in developments in Hong Kong and our commitment to the faithful implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong [para.1]. The issue of electoral reform dominated the political debate in the Jan-June 2010 reporting period. In April, the Hong Kong SAR Government released its proposals for changes to the 2012 electoral arrangements. In the lead-up to an eventual deal on the package, a split developed between Hong Kong’s pan-democratic parties over tactics to secure faster progress towards genuine universal suffrage. Legislators from the Civic Party and League of Social Democrats (LSD) resigned in order to force by-elections, which they framed as a “referendum” on the pace of democratic development. [paras. 3-11]. Meanwhile, lines of dialogue were opening between some pan-democratic legislators and officials from mainland China. The process included the first formal meeting between Hong Kong democrats and mainland officials since before the Tiananmen events in 1989. The pan-democrats pressed for concessions in the 2012 elections on the controversial functional constituency seats. On 28 May, FCO Minister of State Jeremy Browne issued a statement in which he welcomed the process of dialogue and expressed the hope “that continued discussions between all parties would lead to an agreement on the way forward”. [paras. 12-17]. On 7 June, the SAR Government announced they would table their existing electoral proposals to the Legislative Council (LegCo). This prompted a pledge by pan- democratic legislators from all sides to veto the package unless it included a commitment to abolish functional constituencies. Following further talks between the Government and moderate democrats, the Chief Executive announced on 21 June that the SAR Government would include in their package provision for five new proposed functional constituency seats to be popularly elected. [paras. 18-21]. On 24 June, the LegCo passed the SAR Government’s proposals for the 2012 Chief Executive election and the following day those for the 2012 LegCo elections. Legislators from the Civic Party and LSD voted against both proposals. Jeremy Browne issued a further statement welcoming passage of the proposals and expressing the hope “that Hong Kong could now move forward with a renewed spirit of co-operation towards full universal suffrage as promised for 2017 and 2020”. EU High Representative Baroness Ashton and the US Government also issued statements. [paras. 19-25]. Chief Executive Donald Tsang rejected comments that the role of the Central Government in the electoral arrangements represented an erosion of the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’. He said, “Any constitutional reform in Hong Kong will require the consent of at least three parties involved – the Central Government, the Hong Kong Legislature and the views of the Hong Kong people…It is necessary 2 for the three parties to work together. It is a triumph of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ arrangement”. [paras. 26-27]. On Hong Kong’s wider rights and freedoms, twelve elected members of the Legislative Council continued to be prevented from travelling freely to mainland China [para. 28]; a New York based theatre group cancelled performances in Hong Kong following what they described as “last minute denial” of visas to staff reported to have connections to Falun Gong [para. 31]; and in the run-up to the 4 June Tiananmen anniversary, there was controversy surrounding the Government’s decision to confiscate and later return a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue. [para. 32]. Organisers estimated around 150,000 people attended a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 21st anniversary. A number of other demonstrations took place. There were a handful of associated arrests. [paras. 28-41]. On legal and judicial affairs, we congratulated Mr Justice Ma on his appointment as Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal. Also during the reporting period, two particularly interesting cases were heard which considered the concepts of sovereign immunity and Crown immunity. [paras. 42-47]. On the economy, the SAR Government announced that Hong Kong’s GDP had grown by 8.2% in the first quarter of 2010 on a year earlier. [paras. 48-51] UK-Hong Kong bilateral relations remained in excellent shape. Bilateral trade in goods and services amounted to almost £14bn in 2009. Education links remained strong. [paras. 55-57]. On 21 June, the first comprehensive Double Taxation Agreement between the UK and Hong Kong was signed. [paras. 52-59]. At the end of the six-monthly reporting period covered by this report, we conclude that the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle of the Joint Declaration has worked well and that the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Joint Declaration have been respected. 3 SIX-MONTHLY REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JOINT DECLARATION ON HONG KONG INTRODUCTION 1. This series of six-monthly reports reflects the British Government’s continuing interest in developments in Hong Kong and our commitment to the faithful implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. In this, the Chinese Government undertook that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) would enjoy a high degree of autonomy except in foreign and defence affairs, and that the continuation of Hong Kong’s social and economic systems, lifestyles, rights and freedoms would be guaranteed. 2. In general, we assess that, over this reporting period, the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle of the Joint Declaration has worked well and that the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Joint Declaration have been respected. The following report considers aspects of Hong Kong’s autonomy, rights and freedoms in more detail. CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 3. This period was marked by the lead up to and the eventual passage by the Legislative Council (LegCo)1 of the Hong Kong SAR Government’s proposals on changes to electoral arrangements for 2012. The context for these proposals was the National People’s Congress Standing Committee statement of 2007 allowing for the introduction of full universal suffrage for the election of the Chief Executive of the SAR Government in 2017 and of the Legislative Council in 2020.