On 1 July 1997 the last British colonial governor, Chris Patten, together with the Prince of Wales, sailed out of Hong Kong on the Royal Yacht Britannia having handed over sovereignty of the city to the Chinese communist regime.

Twenty-two years on, hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers are marching in protest at the way China has broken its promises, eroded their freedoms and undermined the city’s autonomy. Hong Kong people look to Britain to stand up with them.

Britain has a moral responsibility to Hong Kong, as the former colonial power. But we also have a specific legal obligation, under an international treaty that is lodged at the United Nations, called the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

That declaration, signed in 1984 by Margaret Thatcher and China’s then Premier Zhao Ziyang, promises that Hong Kong’s way of life, including basic human rights and the rule of law, would be protected under the concept of ‘one country, two systems,’ and it gives Britain a role in monitoring and reporting on the situation to ensure that promise is kept.

Two months after the handover in 1997, I flew into Hong Kong to begin my first job after graduating from university. I ended up living in the city for five years, working as a journalist. When I left in 2002, generally speaking ‘one country, two systems’ was in good shape, Hong Kong’s way of life was largely intact and I thought there was little to worry about.

But over the past decade and especially since the Umbrella Movement five years ago, where thousands occupied the streets of central Hong Kong for 79 days in peaceful protest for democracy, Hong Kong’s freedoms have been steadily chipped away.

Booksellers publishing books critical of the Chinese regime were abducted in 2015 and disappeared into the mainland, pro-democracy elected legislators were disqualified and prevented from taking their seats in the legislature, candidates were barred from standing solely because of their perceived opinions, peaceful pro-democracy protesters have been jailed and the Financial Times’ Asia News Editor was expelled from the city.

I myself was denied entry to Hong Kong in October 2013, on the direct orders of Beijing.

Hong Kong has hit the headlines in recent weeks because of mass protests against a proposed new law that, if implemented, would facilitate the extradition of suspected criminals from Hong Kong to mainland China. Until now there is no extradition mechanism, deliberately – because Hong Kong is a city that prides itself on the rule of law and an independent judiciary, and mainland China has a system based on ‘rule by law’ not rule of law, with no judicial independence, no concept of fair trial, widespread use of torture, forced confession and execution.

The absence of an extradition law arrangement with mainland China is a firewall to protect Hong Kong’s autonomy not, as the Hong Kong government argued, a loophole that needs to be closed.

Not surprisingly, almost every sector of Hong Kong society is united in opposition to the proposed law – businesses, lawyers and judges, teachers, housewives, parents, ordinary people and the pro-democracy movement. Business people and dissidents, for different reasons, are scared they could be whisked off in the middle of the night.

A demonstration earlier this month of over a million people – a seventh of the population – sent a clear message from the Hong Kong people. Imagine if the equivalent proportion of the population of the United Kingdom – over nine million people – took to the streets of London.

Yet despite that, Hong Kong’s government pressed on, provoking further demonstrations, to which the police responded with completely disproportionate brutality – using pepper spray and tear gas at close range, savagely beating unarmed protesters who were already on the ground and firing rubber bullets directly at people.

Yet a few days later, uncowed, the protesters redoubled their efforts – literally, turning out two million marchers. Again, imagine if 18 million people turned out on London’s streets.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam finally backed down and suspended the legislation indefinitely. But that is not good enough. She must withdraw it completely, for as long as it is anywhere near the table no one will feel secure.

A robust independent inquiry is urgently needed to investigate police brutality and hold those responsible to account. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has done the right thing in suspending export licences to Hong Kong for equipment for police use.

Why should Britain care? Not only because of our historic moral and legal responsibilities, but also because Hong Kong is a major international financial centre and regional trading hub, and it is in our interests to ensure that Hong Kong’s reputation as a safe place to do business, arbitrate disputes, negotiate deals and save assets is protected.

A year before the handover, the prime minister at the time, Sir John Major, visited Hong Kong and promised that ‘Hong Kong will never have to walk alone.’

Today, as we mark the 22^nd anniversary of the handover, Britain now has a duty to speak up for the brave people of Hong Kong who only want what was promised to them – their basic rights, autonomy and way of life.

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