The U.K. summoned China’s ambassador to protest the disqualification of pro-democracy legislators in Hong Kong, a move it said breaks the joint agreement on political and legal conditions in the former British colony.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Beijing’s new law barring any Hong Kong lawmakers who don’t recognize Chinese sovereignty undermines the territory’s "high degree of autonomy” protected in the Sino-British agreement.
"The U.K. will stand up for the people of Hong Kong, and call out violations of their rights and freedoms,” Raab said in emailed statement Thursday. "With our international partners, we will hold China to the obligations it freely assumed under international law.”