China’s Hong Kong Law May Merit Court Action, EU Parliament Says
China’s Hong Kong Law May Merit Court Action, EU Parliament Says
(Bloomberg) -- The European Parliament urged governments in Europe to consider taking China to the International Court of Justice over its draft national-security law for Hong Hong.
In a non-binding resolution, the European Union’s assembly called the Chinese plan regarding the former U.K. colony “a comprehensive assault on the city’s autonomy, rule of law, and fundamental freedoms.”
The 27-nation parliament said that, if enacted, the Chinese measures would violate both a 1984 joint declaration by China and the U.K. about the arrangements for Hong Kong, and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The resolution approved on Friday in Brussels “calls on the EU and its member states to consider, in the event the new security law is applied, filing a case before the International Court of Justice alleging that China’s decision to impose national-security legislation on Hong Kong violates the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the ICCPR.”
The EU Parliament’s non-binding resolutions on foreign affairs often act as a barometer of public opinion in Europe, allowing critical views to be expressed without limiting the room for maneuver by the governments of member countries. EU capitals are generally loathe to provoke the Chinese government over human rights, a reflection in part of China’s status as the bloc’s No. 2 trade partner after the U.S.
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