EU concerned over ‘gradual erosion’ of Hong Kong’s autonomy

Issues raised in European Commission report include British activist being refused entry and Chinese businessman going missing from hotel in city

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The joint checkpoint arrangement for the West Kowloon terminus of the high-speed rail link was also mentioned in the report. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 11:04am, 25 Apr 2018Updated: 11:40am, 25 Apr 2018

The European Union has voiced concerns over the “gradual erosion” of Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy as it questioned the implementation of the “one country, two systems” policy in its latest report on the city.

In response, the Hong Kong government said that the city had been exercising a high degree of autonomy since its “return to the motherland” from British rule. It reiterated calls for foreign institutions not to interfere in its internal affairs after a US report released on Saturday highlighted a “chilling effect on political protest” in the city.

The European Commission’s 2017 annual report, released on Tuesday, cited as examples British activist Benedict Rogers being refused entry to the city, and Chinese businessman Xiao Jianhua going missing from his hotel in Hong Kong.

Rogers, a Conservative Party activist and a vocal critic of China, was turned away at the Hong Kong airport last October. He said the purpose of the trip was to visit friends.

Activist Benedict Rogers said he had planned to visit friends in Hong Kong but was turned away. Source: Facebook

The commission report read: “It appears … that this decision was taken by Beijing on the basis of its competence in ‘foreign affairs’. This raised questions about the implementation of the one country two systems principle, inasmuch as, under the Basic Law, immigration falls under the remit of Hong Kong.”