UK expresses concern over press freedom in Hong Kong

BEIJING: The UK has expressed serious concern over declining press freedom in Hong Kong, a former British colony now under China, prompting a sharp response from Beijing.

An half-yearly report, presented by British Foreign Secretary William Hague to UK parliament yesterday spoke of increasing tensions over democratic reforms in Hong Kong.

"We believe that freedom of expression, including of the press, has played an important part in Hong Kong's success," the report said.

"As such we take seriously concerns about press freedom, including fears about self-censorship," it said, adding that London would monitor the situation closely.

Reacting sharply to the UK's report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang said: "I would like to reiterate that the Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China."

"The affairs of Hong Kong fall within China's domestic affairs. China is firmly opposed to any foreign country interfering in its internal affairs of Hong Kong in whatever pretext," he said asserting that the standards of former British colony has improved since it joined the motherland.

The success of the "one country, two systems" policy in Hong Kong has been universally acknowledged, Qin said.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association which is agitated over the declining freedom of the media said in a recent report that press freedom in the former British colony had entered its darkest period in decades and has set up a group to investigate complaints of media self-censorship amid fears that Beijing is tightening its grip.

However, a number of politicians in Hong Kong expressed disappointment over UK's report saying that it is too weak and London was not keen to criticise Beijing as it looks to get lot of British investments.

Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing said the report should have stood firm against Beijing's reinterpretation of the "one country, two systems" model.

"The UK government has its moral responsibility as a signatory to the joint declaration," Lau was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

Hague's report noted some commentators had suggested that the paper threatened the city's high degree of autonomy, but did not say if the UK agreed or disagreed with Beijing.

Kenneth Chan Ka-lok, of the Civic Party, said the report avoided explicitly commenting on the white paper as the UK did not want to embarrass Beijing.

"I believe the UK wants to avoid embarrassing Beijing as Premier Li Keqiang has just brought business deals of billions of pounds to Britain," Ka-lok said.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 and is now a Special Administrative Region of China.