The oppressor of Hong Kong should be banned from the coronation

The government is making a mistake in turning a blind eye to China’s plans to send a high ranking politician responsible for crushing democratic freedoms in Hong Kong to the King’s coronation. Han Zheng, who was appointed President Xi’s deputy last month, is due to represent China at the historic event on 6 May.

In choosing him, Beijing is guilty of a calculated display of contempt for the values of democracy and freedom. The move should have been rebuffed in the strongest terms; instead the government has adopted a softly-softly approach that is tantamount to appeasing the Chinese leadership.

China can send who it likes to the coronation, explained James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, as if it was all a fuss about nothing. This sends all the wrong signals to Beijing. Cleverly is right to say that China is at liberty to do as it pleases. But he neglected to mention that Britain is equally entitled to take a different and more robust view, especially when Beijing’s choice is such a controversial and internationally discredited figure. 

The people of Hong Kong – on the receiving end of China’s brutal assault on democratic freedoms – will rightly feel aggrieved that Han could be allowed to attend such a high profile international gathering. They know first hand all about Han, who spent several years in charge of Hong Kong affairs for the Chinese leadership.

It has been an uphill battle for Hongkongers ever since Britain handed back control to China in 1997, as part of an accord based on ‘one country, two systems’ designed to safeguard democracy and freedoms that were not permitted to the citizens of mainland China. Since then, Beijing has been busy reneging on its promises.

Han’s arrival to oversee Hong Kong in 2018 marked a new hardline approach, with civil liberties eroded in a systematic way. The following year, Han proposed a bill that threatened to allow suspects to be deported to mainland China for trial. This triggered widespread protests, resulting in thousands of peaceful demonstrators being carted off to jail; others were injured, and some lost their lives.

The protests – and the worldwide attention and condemnation they generated – prompted Beijing to resort to even more draconian measures to crush dissent. Han enacted a national security law that stifled all opposition and criminalised even the mildest forms of rebellion. This made it easier than ever to arrest people under the flimsiest of pretexts and further reduce Hong Kong’s autonomy.

The inevitable international outcry led to strained relations with the UK and other countries. Britain responded by launching a visa scheme for those trying to flee the city-state. This is why it makes little sense that Britain – by failing to register even the faintest of diplomatic protests – now appears to be rolling out the red carpet to a man who was the architect of this turmoil. It is a slap in the face for Hongkongers. 

This shameful episode reveals much about the government’s complacent approach to its dealings with China. It is not as if the regime’s outrages are not widely documented, including its contempt for the rule of law, the appalling oppression of the Uighurs, and the bellicose threats directed at Taiwan.

China’s actions in Britain are equally troubling. There are claims that it has set up its own ‘police stations’ to kidnap political dissidents, and that Chinese and Hong Kong students on university campuses are increasingly subject to surveillance.

Yet at every turn the government appears willing to give Beijing the benefit of the doubt. This attitude is reflected in the recently updated Integrated Review, which supposedly clarifies the government’s strategy and approach. There is lofty talk of balancing acts, maintaining economic ties and recognising China’s growing power but keeping open the option to reprimand it on human rights abuses. This is wishful thinking masquerading as sensible policy. It smacks of avoiding the hard choices.

Britain’s attitude is also at odds with America, our most important ally: US politicians on all sides of the political divide are increasingly united in a belated recognition of the threat posed by China. It is blindingly obvious that Han Zheng, the very embodiment of Chinese contempt for democracy and freedom, should not be allowed anywhere near the coronation. Britain is left looking hopelessly weak.