The King's Speech Is a Test of Britain's Resolve on China
The King’s speech on Wednesday will reveal whether the government’s rhetoric on China amounts to anything more than carefully crafted ambiguity. Ministers have repeatedly promised to “cooperate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must” in dealing with Beijing. The question now is whether they are prepared to act and challenge where they must. Nowhere is a challenge more necessary than in Hong Kong, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has systematically dismantled the freedoms and autonomy guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration — a legally binding treaty lodged at the United Nations.
No case illustrates that betrayal more clearly than that of Jimmy Lai.
Lai, a British citizen, founder of Apple Daily — once Hong Kong’s most pro-democracy newspaper — and outspoken defender of democratic values, sits behind bars, effectively serving a life sentence at 78 years old after a bogus legal judgment under the city’s national security law. His offence wasn’t violence or corruption. It was speech — independent journalism, dissent, and the insistence that promises made to Hong Kong’s people should be kept.
The King’s Speech provides the perfect opportunity for the British government to show it will not simply watch the destruction of an international treaty and the imprisonment of one of its own citizens.
First, the U.K. should impose immediate and sweeping Magnitsky sanctions on all officials involved in Jimmy Lai’s prosecution, including judges, prosecutors, and senior Hong Kong and mainland officials. Those who wilfully dismantle freedoms and arbitrarily lock-up its defenders should face the consequences for doing so.
Second, the government should finally acknowledge the obvious reality that Hong Kong no longer enjoys the autonomy promised to it under the Joint Declaration — something ministers themselves have already effectively recognised. There is, therefore, no justification for maintaining Hong Kong’s special trading privileges in Britain. The government should use the King’s Speech to commit to introducing legislation this parliamentary session to repeal the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Act 1996 and close Hong Kong’s Economic and Trade Office in London.
Third, Britain must abandon the fiction that Hong Kong remains a trustworthy, law-abiding jurisdiction. Its growing role in sanctions evasion and in supplying Russia’s war machine with Western components has been extensively documented. Again, the King’s Speech provides the perfect opportunity for the government to outline plans to designate Hong Kong as a high-risk jurisdiction.
Finally, Lords Hoffmann and Neuberger should not be permitted to continue to sit on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal while hundreds remain imprisoned for pro-democracy activism. Their presence lends a veneer of legitimacy to a system that no longer upholds the rule of law.
The government must end this complicity by introducing legislation to bar members of the House of Lords from serving on Hong Kong’s courts, closing the loophole that allows peers on leave of absence to avoid registering such interests, and by preventing anyone who chooses to serve in Hong Kong’s judicial system from holding public appointments in the U.K. Britain can’t credibly defend liberty abroad while allowing its own institutions to be entangled in its suppression.
Some argue that a firmer stance toward the CCP would carry unacceptable economic risks. That concern is overstated. The U.K. is far less dependent on China than is often claimed and that reality creates strategic room to act with confidence. The trade balance makes the point plainly: for every £1 of goods and services the U.K. exports to China, it imports nearly £2.50 in return. This is not a position of vulnerability; it is one of leverage. Britain should recognise that imbalance for what it is and stop allowing exaggerated fears of economic retaliation to dictate policy.
If Britain is serious about defending its values, its citizens, and the integrity of international law, it must act with clarity, resolve, and strength. The government has the perfect opportunity to do so with the forthcoming King’s Speech. Anything less signals acquiescence.
Tomas Roberto is the UK Head of Public Affairs and Advocacy at the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.
