Hong Kong election has Five Eyes seeing red
Five Eyes nations issue joint statement expressing ‘grave concerns’ over the outcome of Hong Kong’s first legislative elections.
The Five Eyes nations have issued a joint statement expressing “grave concerns” over the outcome of Hong Kong’s first legislative elections since Beijing dictated only so-called patriots could govern the city.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne joined her counterparts from the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand in condemning the “erosion of democratic elements of the Special Administrative Region’s electoral system”, which prompted a boycott of the Legislative Council ballot on Sunday.
“Actions that undermine Hong Kong’s rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy are threatening our shared wish to see Hong Kong succeed,” they said in the statement issued late on Monday night.
“Since the handover, candidates with diverse political views have contested elections in Hong Kong. This election has reversed this trend.”
The Five Eyes ministers said the changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system earlier this year, which reduced the number of directly elected seats and established a new vetting process for candidates, had “eliminated any meaningful political opposition”.
They also remained “gravely concerned at the wider chilling effect” of the CCP-imposed national security law in Hong Kong, and “the growing restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, which are being felt across civil society”.
“Protecting space for peaceful alternative views is the most effective way to ensure the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.
“We urge the People’s Republic of China to act in accordance with its international obligations to respect protected rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, including those guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.”
The statement was authorised by Senator Payne, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta.
New Zealand’s decision to join the statement is significant, after Ms Mahuta said this year she was “uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes” beyond intelligence sharing.
The position followed criticism by China’s Foreign Ministry the Five Eyes intelligence sharing partners had “taken co-ordinated steps to gang up on China”.
In a stinging rebuke for Beijing, Hongkongers turned out in historically low numbers to cast votes under the new “patriots only” rules that dramatically cut directly elected seats, official results showed on Monday.
Figures showed just 30 per cent of the electorate cast ballots.
It was the first legislature poll under a new political blueprint China imposed on Hong Kong in response to massive and often violent pro-democracy protests two years ago.
The Five Eyes, including New Zealand, previously issued a joint statement on Hong Kong in November last year, after Chinese authorities arrested Hong Kong politicians Ted Hui, Eddie Chu, and Raymond Chan.
Mr Hui, who has since relocated to Australia, said the low turnout for the “sham election” reflected the anger of ordinary people about the loss of their democratic freedoms.
“The message to Beijing is very clear,” the now-Adelaide resident told The Australian. “(Hongkongers) feel that the election is irrelevant and illegitimate, and they don’t want to recognise it.”
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Labor was “deeply disappointed” at the restrictions that were placed on election candidates.
“Unfortunately, the Legislative Council elections are yet another illustration of the continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy and democratic freedoms, as guaranteed in the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration, to which China had committed,” Senator Wong said.
“This further undermining of Hong Kong’s democracy and the One Country, Two Systems arrangement is not the behaviour of a responsible global power.”
According to CCP mouthpiece China Daily: “Despite continuous smearing and slander from radicals and backstage manipulators, polling in Hong Kong’s first Legislative Council election under the revamped system concluded smoothly.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING:AFP
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