UK minister: all sides in Hong Kong must respect autonomy, rule of law

Hong Kong should seek ways to de-escalate tensions and find a political resolution to its crisis, Britain's foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Thursday, calling on both protesters and authorities in the city to show restraint. "There must be a meaningful dialogue between all parties, with a credible political track to protect the rights and freedoms set out in Hong Kong’s Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which reflects and respects China’s avowed 'One Country, Two Systems'," Raab said in a foreword to a regular six-monthly report on Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and rule of law is what guarantees its future prosperity and success. It is incumbent on all sides to respect it," Raab added. Hong Kong has slid into recession for the first time in a decade, partly because of increasingly violent anti-government protests.

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