Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“The report that the First and deputy First Ministers told the Chinese government that they “understand and respect” the repressive laws recently introduced in Hong Kong demands a response. It is reported in this morning’s Irish News that they made the comments during a conference call with the Chinese Consul General in Belfast, Madame Zhang Meifang.
“In light of the appalling record of the Chinese government on human rights and disregard for the international agreement which is still binding in regard to Hong Kong such comments, if accurate, would be totally inappropriate and I believe give an entirely inappropriate impression of how the people of Northern Ireland view what is currently taking place in Hong Kong.
“Just yesterday the owner of one of Hong Kong’s newspapers, Apple Daily, was arrested under the oppressive laws which Mrs Foster and Ms O’Neill allegedly “understand and respect”. No society with respect for basic, fundamental freedoms can support hundreds of police officers raiding a newspaper and carting off the owner in handcuffs.
“It is vital that the Executive Office publishes its own record of the meeting. The response to this story to date, which both fails to clarify if the remarks attributed to the First and deputy First Ministers are accurate and doesn’t say if they raised any human rights concerns with Madame Zhang Meifang, simply isn’t good enough.”