2014-09-05
HKT 14:06
A British parliamentary committee has vowed to continue its investigation into whether the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong was being implemented, despite objections from China.
But the Foreign Affairs Committee stressed that it had no intention of interfering in China's internal affairs.
The Committee published three letters from the Hong Kong and central governments that were written in July.
The letters strongly objected to the inquiry, adding that it would interfere in the internal affairs of Hong Kong and the mainland.
One of the letters was written by the Chinese ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, who described political veterans Martin Lee and Anson Chan as "bent on undermining the stability of Hong Kong".
He said some people "wanted to ditch the Basic Law" and the inquiry would give them a convenient platform for their "unlawful propositions".
Mr Liu's strongly-worded letter was written before Mr Lee and Ms Chan attended a hearing by the Committee in late July.
The other two letters expressed similar views.
They were written by the head of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, Erica Ng, and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress.
But despite the warnings, the Chairman of the the UK's Foreign Affairs Commitee, Richard Ottaway, stressed that the Committee had a legitimate interest in the matter as part of its role to assess the implementation of the Joint Declaration.
http://m.rthk.hk/news/20140905/1035098.htm
