LONDON (Reuters) – A group of senior British lawmakers said on Wednesday that China’s refusal to allow them to visit Hong Kong was an insult and called on the government to formally summon China’s ambassador over the issue.
Last month, China said members of parliament’s foreign affairs committee would not be allowed to enter Hong Kong as part of their inquiry into Britain’s relations with its former colony amid two months of pro-democracy street protests.
In an escalating row in the following days, Prime Minister David Cameron said the decision was mistaken, prompting China to accuse Britain of interfering in its internal affairs.
Britain says it has raised the problem with China through several channels. But the foreign affairs committee said it thought London’s response had not gone far enough.
“The Chinese government’s decision to prevent the foreign affairs committee entering Hong Kong is an insult to the House of Commons and the UK as a whole,” Richard Ottaway, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement.
Read more at Reuters
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