Senior diplomats voice support for Beijing on its internal affairs

GENEVA－Senior diplomats on Friday expressed their support for China on Hong Kong-related issues, especially a draft decision of China's top legislature to improve the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

China's National People's Congress, or NPC, deliberated the draft decision on improving Hong Kong's electoral system on Friday, the first day of the ongoing NPC annual session held in Beijing.

"The National People's Congress is the sovereign parliament of China and the representatives in it are fully competent to frame laws for entire China as per the interests of the nation. They are the best guardians of the interests of the Chinese people," Ambassador Tahir Hussain Andrabi, deputy representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in Geneva, said on Friday.

"The National People's Congress in the past has framed laws of Hong Kong that have contributed to the stability of Hong Kong," he said, adding that he expects the new decision "could be part of the series of such legislations which have promoted peace and stability in Hong Kong".

During the ongoing 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, a Belarusian representative delivered a joint speech on Friday on behalf of 70 countries, emphasizing that Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs and should not be interfered in by external forces.

Current needs

Ambassador Yury Ambrazevich, head of the Belarus mission to the UN in Geneva, said after the meeting that in the joint statement read out by Belarus, "we emphasized that Hong Kong is an integral part of China and Hong Kong affairs are China's internals affairs".

He stressed that China has the sole authority to make any decisions to maintain Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, and that Belarus believes China has the capacity for the successful implementation of "one country, two systems".

Ambassador Kham-Inh Khitchadeth, representative of Laos to the UN in Geneva, said on Friday that the NPC's decision to improve Hong Kong's electoral system is based on the current needs.

"We believe that this decision will be constructive to the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong as well as the enduring steadfast implementation of the 'one country, two systems' policy," he said.

The Geneva-based senior diplomats also spoke positively of the national security law in Hong Kong.

"Belarus is deeply convinced that sustainable and effective development is impossible without political stability and national unity and integrity; this is why any separatist activity is totally incompatible with achieving prosperity and stability of the nation, and this is why we welcome the new law," Ambrazevich said.

Khitchadeth said the enforcement of the national security law in Hong Kong "is very necessary in order to better protect the rights and freedom of Hong Kong residents in a safe environment".

Andrabi recalled that during the previous session of the UN Human Rights Council, many countries, including Pakistan, also issued a joint statement in support of China on Hong Kong-related issues.

"That statement was quite an emphatic expression to reject the approach of targeting China based on political considerations," he said.