Vincent Piket says the Europe Union has a lot at stake in Hong Kong. Photo: Courtesy GIS
The Head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong, Vincent Piket, has defended the EU's critical report on the SAR. He said that as a stakeholder with more than 2,000 companies based here the EU has a right to make observations.
The latest EU report described the disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers as "the most serious challenge" to the One Country Two Systems principle since the handover.
Piket said the report on developments last year mentioned the case of the booksellers due to concern among the EU members – for counsellor reasons and about the rule of law, freedom of speech and media freedom.
“In our report, we expressed the hope that all stakeholders will continue to fully respect the implementation of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle as it has been implemented in the last 19 years,” he said.
Piket said the observations were made within the overall sense that Hong Kong continues to thrive within the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.
On Tuesday, Beijing responded to the report by telling the EU to stop interfering in China's internal affairs. Piket did not directly respond to the foreign ministry spokeswoman’s comment, except to say the EU "recognises the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China over Hong Kong".
However, he said in the case of Hong Kong, the EU was entitled to observe developments here because of its deep ties here. “We are entitled to observe developments and make remarks about them if we consider the developments aren't good – whether they aren't good for the region or country concerned or whether they aren't good for our specific own interest,” he said.
“That is not an interference or intervention. That's simply a statement of an outside stakeholder that has a special interest in a country or a region," the diplomat said.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1257177-20160428.htm
