Politics
22:28, 30-Jun-2017
Sino-British Joint Declaration on HK 'no longer has realistic significance': Chinese FM
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The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration is a historical document and "no longer has any realistic significance," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang declared on Friday at a daily news briefing in Beijing.
Lu's comments came a day after Britain reaffirmed its commitment to the 1984 treaty and its support for more democracy in Hong Kong.
"Britain has no sovereignty, no governing power and no supervising power over Hong Kong. I hope relevant parties will take note of this reality,” Lu noted, adding that whether Hong Kong's return to China was successful or not will be judged by the practices in the past 20 years, and is not up to any outsiders to comment on.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang at a regular press conference in Beijing on June 30, 2017. /Ministry of Foreign Affairs Photo
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang at a regular press conference in Beijing on June 30, 2017. /Ministry of Foreign Affairs Photo
Raising questions over China's commitment to Hong Kong's core freedoms, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a statement Thursday that Hong Kong's success was built on its high degree of autonomy, which China promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The joint declaration does not have any binding power on how the central government administers Hong Kong, Lu told reporters Friday in response to Johnson's statement.
Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China. The past two decades have seen the city’s social and economic development progress smoothly, in cooperation and with the support from the central government.
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