Hong Kong: Political and Judicial Developments (Hansard, 22 July 1999)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)
My Lords, as co-signatory to the Joint Declaration, we take seriously our political and moral responsibilities towards the people of Hong Kong. Our assessment of events in Hong Kong during the first half of 1999 will be published in the fifth six-monthly report to Parliament today. We will continue to follow closely developments in Hong Kong by maintaining a dedicated staff in both London and Hong Kong to follow the situation there.

§ Lord Howell of Guildford
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. I appreciate that Hong Kong is now part of the sovereign territory of China. However, the Minister will recall that, at the time of the hand-over, a promise went out from the two Houses of this Parliament that the people of Hong Kong would not be forgotten. Given the rather difficult times through which Hong Kong has been going—for example, there has been the question of the interpretation of the Basic Law in regard to the issue of immigration from other parts of China, and difficulties over the currency, which have been extremely skilfully managed by the Hong Kong government—does the Minister accept that there is a case for expressing, in the way she described and in every other way, our concern and sympathy, and for gaining a balanced view of what is going on in Hong Kong? Will she support the idea that the task of keeping a close watch on our friends in Hong Kong, still one of the greatest cities on earth, should be remitted to one of the committees of this House—although I appreciate that that is more a matter for this House than for the Government?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, as the noble Lord says, it is more a matter for this House. However, I re-emphasise words of the Prime Minister on Hong Kong last October. He reiterated that we retain a political and moral commitment towards Hong Kong, and that we are committed to upholding the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which is an international treaty, until the year 2047. The noble Lord raises the particular issue of the currency. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has responded robustly and with a high degree of autonomy to defend the Hong Kong dollar ong Honagainst attacks by speculators and to defend the fixed exchange rate with the United States dollar. There is also the question of the Court of Final Appeal and the 1129 Basic Law, as the noble Lord indicated. There have been expressions of anxiety about the independence of the judicial system. It is very important that those key principles are upheld in the future. We have noted the clear expressions and commitment to the rule of law from the SAR government.

§ Lord Borrie
My Lords, will my noble friend indicate what conditions are required of the Hong Kong authorities as to political and democratic freedoms and judicial independence if UK judges, some of whom are Members of this House, are to assist and continue to assist in the judicial work of Hong Kong?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, these are complex and difficult questions. There has been an interchange between the CFA in Hong Kong and the standing committee of the National People's Congress on the complex issues surrounding immigration, which I believe is what the noble Lord has in mind, between Hong Kong and mainland China. There are a number of different interpretations of these issues. It is clearly important that the key principles are upheld; namely, the authority and standing of the CFA, the independence of the judicial system in Hong Kong and the robustness of the rule of law there.

§ Baroness Williams of Crosby
My Lords, will the Minister agree that, by and large, the Basic Law has been recognised and accepted by the Republic of China to an extent that beggared expectations? But having said that, and given the statement by Martin Lee, who is perhaps the leading figure in the democracy movement in Hong Kong, that he thought the decision of the NPC to override the Court of Final Appeal constituted, to use his phrase, the beginning of the end of the rule of law in Hong Kong, will the Government, do everything possible to encourage links between Commonwealth judges and the Court of Final Appeal in order to strengthen the standing of that body?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I, like many in this House, have the highest possible regard for Mr Martin Lee, who is very courageous in a number of the things that he says. It is the case that he has on previous occasions been rather more apocalyptic in his thoughts about what would happen next in Hong Kong, than has been the case when we have seen how matters have worked out. If the noble Baroness looks at the report, which is now in the Library of the House, she will see that there are many positive signs of the freedoms that the people of Hong Kong enjoy, and that, as she rightly notes, the Basic Law has been upheld to a remarkable degree. There are undoubtedly questions of interpretation which are difficult to resolve. However, we must hang on to what the SAR government have said about the importance of the rule of law.

§ Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, given the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the transfer of Hong Kong, which guaranteed the territory of 6.7 million people its capitalist freedoms and quasi-autonomy under the auspices of English common law, and given that the 1130 Minister in the other place expressed the highest regard for the integrity of Hong Kong's legal institutions, do Her Majesty's Government support China's challenge of a decision made by the former British colony' s highest court to dismiss common law ruling over residency rights by Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, as I have already said to the House, it is an enormously' complex and difficult area. There are a number of different interpretations. Today, when I asked exactly the same point as the noble Baroness raised just now, I was told that there were four lawyers and five opinions on the subject. That does not necessarily distinguish it from a wide range of different legal issues.
I wish to bring the noble Baroness back to the basic point: the principles on which the CFA operates in Hong Kong. They have recently been upheld by the SAR government, they have re-committed themselves to it and we welcome the SAR's assurances that their request for interpretation was based on what they termed "exceptional and unprecedented circumstances".

§ Lord Campbell of Alloway
My Lords, what is the—

Noble Lords
Next Question!

§ The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Jay of Paddington)
My Lords, the clock has now reached 16 minutes. As the time limit is 30 minutes, perhaps it is time we moved on.