Andy Burnham must lead on Hong Kong if he is serious about keeping Britain safe
Andy Burnham on Wednesday used a Times leader to set out his foreign policy priorities as he gears up to become Britain’s seventh prime minister in the last decade.
The MP for Makerfield issued the usual platitudes about “keeping people safe [being] the first responsibility of any government,” but missed the elephant in the room by failing to address the defining geopolitical challenge of our age: the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Before Mr Burnham enters No 10’s revolving door, the country needs to know how he intends to deal with China and Britain’s historical obligations to Hong Kong.
The CCP’s repression of Hong Kong is not simply another foreign policy challenge. It is Britain's unfinished business. Margaret Thatcher’s government negotiated the treaty that guaranteed the city's freedoms for 50 years. Millions of Hong Kongers relied on Britain's word. If that guarantee can be dumped without consequence, what does that say about Britain's willingness to defend its commitments elsewhere?
Since Beijing imposed the National Security Law (NSL) in 2020, Hong Kong's freedoms have been all but eradicated. Pro-democracy politicians have been jailed, newspapers such as Apple Daily have been silenced, and civil society has been crushed. Nearly 2,000 people have been prosecuted on political grounds, with more than 560 political prisoners still behind bars.
Among them is British citizen Jimmy Lai, imprisoned because he stood-up for a free press, democratic accountability and freedom of speech. At 78-years of age and in declining health, securing Lai’s immediate return to Britain should be a priority. Every minister visiting Hong Kong and China should raise Lai's case directly with the authorities, not as an afterthought after begging for economic favours. Establishing a dedicated Hostage Affairs Office, as per Labour’s election pledge, would strengthen Britain's ability to coordinate efforts to free arbitrarily detained Britons abroad, starting with the Apple Daily founder.
Britain should also impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for politically motivated prosecutions. Burnham could start by sanctioning Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee. The former police commissioner in June handed himself legally unchallengeable power to certify any alleged criminal act as a national security offence — including those that occurred in the past — ensuring defendants he picks on will likely be denied bail and a jury trial.
Lee is also a chief orchestrator of CCP repression on these shores. In May, Bill Yuen and Peter Wai were convicted of spying on Chinese and Hong Kong dissidents in Britain. Yuen remains employed by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HEKTO) in London as a manager. As such his work enjoys diplomatic immunities under the HKETO Act 1996 — an absurd holdover from the collapsed "one country, two systems" framework.
The CCP does not need two embassies from which to track and intimidate British residents. A Burnham government should, therefore, support Greg Stafford MP’s Bill, currently before Parliament, to repeal the Act and close the HKETO.
British parliamentarians have also been sanctioned and monitored, while Hong Kong activists have faced intimidation and threats. Bounties of HK$1 million have been placed on 10 democracy campaigners in Britain, including my colleague, Chloe Cheung. Last week, China implemented the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law which, like the NSL, establishes a legal framework for the CCP to persecute critics overseas. Burnham should protect targets of both laws by establishing a dedicated reporting mechanism for transnational repression, as is the case in the U.S. and Canada.
Hong Kong is also a global sanctions-evasion hub, channelling hundreds of millions of pounds worth of dual-use technology to Russia's war machine and financing the Ayatollahs in Tehran. If Burnham wishes to sustain Britain's proud record of supporting Ukraine, he should designate Hong Kong a high-risk jurisdiction requiring enhanced due diligence. He should also place China — alongside Russia and Iran — in the top tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, in keeping with the many warnings issued by intelligence services about CCP efforts to influence and recruit British elites.
Britain should engage China where cooperation serves our national interest. But engagement cannot mean acquiescence or burying inconvenient truths down the back of a Downing Street sofa — like Labour’s promised “China Audit”. The question for Burnham is simple: does he intend to hold China to its commitments, or does he propose to carry on as if nothing is amiss? His answer will tell us much we need to know about the kind of prime minister he intends to be.
Tomas Roberto is the UK Head of Public Affairs and Advocacy at the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.
