Bishop urges UK government to stand in solidarity with people of Hong Kong

Bishop Declan Lang - image CBCEW

Source: CBCEW

Last week, national security legislation was introduced in Hong Kong, approved by the Chinese Communist Party.

More than 800 parliamentarians and faith leaders from 36 countries, including 165 British have joined a cross-party international coalition protesting against this 'flagrant breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration'.

Today Bishop Declan Lang has called on the UK government to fulfil its responsibilities to the people of Hong Kong under the Declaration. In a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Bishop Declan who chairs the Catholic Bishops' Conference Department of International Affairs said:

"Like so many others in the Catholic community, I am deeply concerned by the continuing erosion of autonomy, suppression of political freedoms, and violent response to peaceful protests taking place in breach of this treaty.

"The UK has a clear legal, moral and historical duty to safeguard fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. Failure to do so at this critical time will not only have devastating consequences for more than seven million people living there but is also likely to have dangerous repercussions for human rights and international law more broadly."

He urged the UK government to stand in solidarity with the people of Hong Kong by "using all available diplomatic means to protect them from the serious violations of their human dignity that we are now witnessing."

See also: ICN 29 May 2020 - Catholic peer leads coalition against Beijing's 'flagrant breach of Sino-British Joint Declaration' www.indcatholicnews.com/news/39690