PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Hong Kong (16 October 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to facilitate constructive dialogue between the Chinese government, the authorities in Hong Kong and campaigners in Hong Kong.

Asked by:
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)

The Government has maintained regular contact on the current situation in Hong Kong with all parties, including to representatives of both the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regional Government and the Chinese Central People’s Government. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has met the Chinese Ambassador and I have met the Hong Kong Government’s Secretary of Justice. We have set out our concerns about events in Hong Kong. We have made clear our view that Hong Kong’s future is best served by a transition to universal suffrage, in line with the Basic Law, which meets the aspirations of the people of Hong Kong, and which offers them a genuine choice in the election of the Chief Executive.

We continue to call on all sides to ensure that the demonstrations remain peaceful. We also encourage all parties to engage in dialogue and to work towards a consensus that allows a significant step forward for democracy. I look forward in due course to the resumption by the Hong Kong Government of the official consultation on plans to implement universal suffrage in 2017.

Answered by:
Lord Swire (Conservative)
21 October 2014