Northern Ireland’s leaders decline to condemn Hong Kong law after China claims they ‘understand and respect’ it

This morning The Irish News reported that the consulate – with which the Executive has become increasingly close over recent years – had put on its website a Mandarin report of a video meeting between the first and deputy first ministers and its Consul General, Madame Zhang Meifang.

The newspaper said that a translation of the report said they discussed the pandemic and that Madame Zhang spoke in defence of the Hong Kong legislation – law that has been denounced by many democracies, human rights organisations press freedom groups, and Hong Kong citizens due to its criminalisation of many forms of peaceful dissent.

The consulate’s report added: “Foster and O’Neill thanked China for its valuable support for the fight against the epidemic in Northern Ireland.

“They said that the Northern Ireland government cherishes friendship with China, understands and respects Hong Kong’s national security legislation, and sincerely wishes Hong Kong more prosperity and stability, and expressed that Northern Ireland is willing to further strengthen its cooperation with China in the epidemic.”

The newspaper asked Stormont Castle if it disputed the report and it issued a bland response which did not challenge the accuracy of what the consulate had claimed.

However, yesterday as pressure came on Mrs Foster and Ms O’Neill from human rights organisations and rival parties, they issued separate tweets which attempted to distance themselves from their alleged comments.

Just after midday, Ms O’Neill posted a tweet which simply said: “I made it very clear that I supported the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ international agreement.”

However, China has argued that what it is doing is in line with ‘One Country, Two Systems’. In a statement on the website of the Belfast consulate, it claims that “the National Security Law is a milestone in consolidating and improving ‘One Country, Two Systems’”.

Then, almost two hours later Mrs Foster posted her own tweet which said that “the article in today’s press misrepresents what was said at our meeting with the Chinese Consul General. I will be writing to Madame Zhang to underscore my disappointment.”

However, Mrs Foster did not explain why her office had not rejected the Chinese report of the meeting which the newspaper contacted Stormont to ask if it accepted its accuracy.

Referring more cryptically to the issue in her tweet, Mrs Foster appeared to side with condemnation of what the Chinese government had done, saying that “my position on Hong Kong is the same as that of HMG”. The British Government has been sharply critical of the new law.

This evening the consulate deleted its claim from its website without explanation.

UUP leader Steve Aiken called on the ministers to “urgently clarify” their remarks, adding that the Chinese Communist Party should “stop oppressing the Uighur people”.

TUV leader Jim Allister similarly called on the ministers’ to clarify what had happened “in light of the appalling record of the Chinese government on human rights” and said it was “vital that the Executive Office publishes its own record of the meeting”, a call also made by Amnesty International.

The News Letter asked The Executive Office if Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill clearly condemned the draconian Hong Kong security law which saw almost 200 police officers invade a newspaper office to arrest the owner and the Chinese government’s appalling treatment of the Uighur Muslim population and the persecution of other minorities such as Christians.

We also asked if they had concerns about these issues, whether they unambiguously expressed these to Chinese government representatives, or would be doing so.

In response, Stormont Castle issued a brief statement which did not answer any of those questions.

However, it did dispute what the consulate had said – a shift from Stormont’s position 24 hours earlier. It said: “The consulate’s report does not reflect ministers’ positions on Hong Kong security legislation, nor their comments at a recent courtesy meeting with the Chinese Consul General. As these matters are not devolved, ministers stated their awareness of the issues and their hope that the matter could be resolved.”

• Morning View: Anything less than full support from Northern Ireland’s leaders for Hong Kong would be a betrayal of its people

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