LONDON:
The British parliamentary organization invited members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council to communicate, which caused controversy, and eventually, the organization withdrew the invitation. Some Hong Kong lawmakers expressed regret, accusing the other party of being unreasonable. British politicians welcomed the decision, saying the Hong Kong MPs would not be the last to be “humiliatingly shut out” by British institutions.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK (Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK) has decided to withdraw its invitation to Hong Kong Legislative Council Members Carmen Kan and Dominic Lee to visit the British Parliament due to the “deteriorating situation in Hong Kong”.
Li Zijing and Jian Huimin were originally invited to live in the UK before March to attend the Westminster Seminar (Westminster Seminar) co-organized by the British Parliament and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Hong Kong’s Legislative Council members should not be invited again after the election system allows only so-called “patriots” to be elected. In previous Westminster seminars, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy and pro-establishment legislators usually sent a representative to the meeting.
Early Special Meeting:
The British branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association issued a statement stating that at the meeting on January 26, members of the executive committee unanimously agreed to withdraw the invitation to the Hong Kong legislature due to the “deteriorating situation in Hong Kong”.
According to VOA’s understanding, the executive committee was originally scheduled to meet on February 7 to discuss the incident, but due to the many objections it received, a special meeting was held earlier.
The UK branch pointed out that the main purpose of the Westminster seminar is to promote parliamentary democracy, allowing participants to learn the roles of members of parliament and parliamentary staff, and exchange knowledge and good practices with representatives of different local councils.
The British branch also pointed out that even though Hong Kong’s political diversity and participation foundation have been severely weakened, representatives of the Hong Kong Legislative Council have attended the activities of the British branch in recent years, and the association has also promoted democracy to them.
Hong Kong MP expresses regret:
Li Zijing, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, replied to the Hong Kong media “Dongwang” that he regretted the withdrawal of the invitation and considered it a loss for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. He said that the Legislative Council is still diverse, and the rule of law system has not deteriorated.
He also told “Dongwang” that the “Hong Kong National Security Law” was not enacted in recent months, and the political environment is no different from many months ago. In addition, the branch still issued invitations to Hong Kong before, so he questioned that the branch has only recently withdrawn the invitation. Stated to blatantly discredit Hong Kong. He said that the incident showed that the club was not organized.
“He won’t be the last “
Luke de Pulford, chief executive of the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition on China Policy (IPAC), told VOA that Li Zijing is another “puppet” of the Hong Kong Legislative Council after Ho Junyao who was “humiliatingly shut out” by British institutions. , and he won’t be the last.
“Unfortunately to hear that Li Zijing is sorry. If the British Parliament needs to hear from a Xi Jinping puppet who denies genocide in (Xinjiang), we will let him know.” Anglia Ruskin University (Anglia Ruskin University) stated in October 2019, decided to revoke the honorary doctorate granted to Hong Kong Legislative Council Member Ho Junyao, saying that his behavior continued to attract attention and relevant decisions were made after investigation.
Rights group wants to examine the relationship
The British human rights organization “Hong Kong Watch” (Hong Kong Watch) also welcomed the decision of the British branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, saying that while the former Hong Kong pro-democracy MP is still in prison because of the suppression of the “Hong Kong National Security Law”, it should never be invited. Jian Huimin and Li Zijing.
The Hong Kong Monitor also stated that it hopes that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association will review its relationship with the Hong Kong Legislative Council, which is composed only of “patriots”.
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