PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Sino-British Joint Declaration (8 December 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will seek assurances from the Chinese government that it recognises the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong as an international treaty, the terms of which continue to apply to the co-signatories.

Asked by:
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)

The Government remains fully committed to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, lodged at the United Nations as treaty number 23391. We regularly reiterate this commitment with the Chinese government. We have made clear our legitimate interest in developments in Hong Kong under the Joint Declaration, and we do of course expect China to continue to recognise this. Our Ambassador to China recently raised this with the Chinese Vice Premier and the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) recently raised this with the Chinese Foreign Minister and I personally raised it with Hong Kong’s Secretary for Justice. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) also restated our shared commitment with China as co-signatories of the Joint Declaration during Premier Li’s visit to the UK in June. The Foreign Secretary will continue to report regularly to Parliament on the implementation of the Joint Declaration.
Answered by:
Lord Swire (Conservative)
11 December 2014