The UK has called on the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to restart talks over constitutional reform in the former British colony, in a rebuke of their policy of prioritising economic over political issues.
Legislators in Hong Kong last month rejected a government reform package that would have given 5m citizens the right to elect their chief executive for the first time, but only after a Beijing-friendly panel had screened the candidates.
Amid growing concerns about political deadlock and a slowing economy in Hong Kong, Philip Hammond, the UK foreign secretary, said on Tuesday that “a transition to universal suffrage is the best way to guarantee Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity”.