Following the dismissal of four members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council today, the remaining 15 members of the pro-democracy opposition have said they will resign. The four lawmakers who were dismissed by Hong Kong’s CEO Carrie Lam are Alvin Yeung, Kwok Ka-ki and Dennis Kwok of the Civic Party and Kenneth Leung of the Professionals…
The Belgian Chamber of Representatives passed a resolution on 16 July, calling on the Federal Government and the EU to support Taiwan’s democracy, strengthen bilateral relations, and encourage the country’s meaningful participation in international organisations. The resolution was adopted unanimously, by 130 votes to 0, with 13 abstentions. Introduced by members Georges Dallemagne and Els…
On 30 June, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress adopted the National Security Law in Hong Kong, which came into effect that day, the 23rd anniversary of the city´s handover to China from British rule. Under the law approved by mainland China´s legislature in May, Beijing will have sweeping new powers to impose…
Reinhard Bütikofer, Chair of the China-Delegation in the European Parliament and foreign affairs spokesperson for the Greens/EFA group, comments on the National Security Law: “By imposing unilaterally the so-called National Security Law on Hong Kong, the leadership of the PRC is destroying Hong Kong’s autonomy. The promise of “One country, two systems” has been broken…
Reacting to the unilateral decision by Beijing to introduce a national security legislation in Hong Kong, the Socialist and Democrats will support tomorrow the European Parliament’s resolution, condemning China’s move to strengthen its legal grip on the former British colony. Ahead of the EU annual Summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in less than one…
Tomorrow, 11th June, the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a closed consultation on EU-China Relations with Gunnar Wiegand, Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the EEAS. In a statement last week, the ECR Group expressed its grave concerns about the unilateral introduction of national security legislation by Beijing against Hong…
As expected, the China’s Peoples Representative Committee adopted on Thursday 28th May a draft Security Law for Hong Kong, which has been widely interpreted as a breach of the international treaty registered with the United Nations, “The Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong”, signed in 1984 between China and the United Kingdom. The…
As a young District Officer in 1984 I watched together with dignitaries from the New Territories of Hong Kong the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong together with TENG Xiaoping, the architect of the “One Country Two Systems” mantra. This international treaty paved the way for…
Taiwan is on the frontline of China’s sharp power, none more so than in the run up to this weekend’s presidential elections. In order to guard against infiltration from China and to protect Taiwan’s democratic way of life, the Taiwan parliament passed the anti-infiltration act on 31 December 2019. This was with one eye on the…
