The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, denounced, on the evening of Monday 3 August, the postponement of the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections.
In a statement on behalf of the EU, he called on the authorities to reconsider the decision, as well as the one to disqualify 12 pro-democracy candidates.
Voting, originally scheduled for 6 September, was postponed for one year on 31 July, officially due to an increase in the number of people infected with the coronavirus.
“The proposed postponement by one year of the elections to the Legislative Council through recourse to emergency powers, would delay the renewal of its democratic mandate and call into question the exercise of the democratic rights and freedoms guaranteed under Hong Kong's Basic Law”, the High Representative stressed.
Borrell also said the recent disqualification of pro-democracy candidates, including sitting lawmakers previously democratically elected by the people of Hong Kong, also weakened the City-State's “international reputation” as a “free and open society”.
The protection of civil and political rights in Hong Kong is a fundamental element of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle, which the EU supports, he said.
Referring to the EU Council conclusions issued on 28 July, the High Representative warned that the EU was following closely the political situation in the City-State and reiterated that it was “essential” that the elections take place in an environment conducive to the exercise of democratic rights and freedoms as enshrined in Hong Kong’s Basic Law (see EUROPE 12538/10). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)