Minister under fire for Hong Kong trade trip
A leading Hong Kong rights activist, exiled in London, has described the first visit of a UK minister to the territory since 2018 as “unimaginable”.
Dominic Johnson, a business minister, was in Hong Kong this weekend “as part of [his] mission to promote the UK as a leading destination for investment and trade”.
“Hong Kong is one of the world’s leading international finance centres and we have shared interests from financial services to infrastructure and sustainability,” he tweeted.
The visit was criticised by Nathan Law, a leading figure in Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement and subsequent pro-democracy protests. Beijing responded with a crackdown on basic human rights.
Johnson said: “I am clear we will not look the other way on Hong Kong or duck our historic responsibilities to its people [and will] call out the violation of their freedoms and hold China to their international obligations.”
The UK’s investment relationship with Hong Kong was worth over £93bn last year, according to figures released by the government in collaboration with the visit.