UK report says Hong Kong law curtails freedoms

Beijing has broken its legal obligations by undermining Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and used a national security law to "drastically curtail freedoms" in the global financial hub, according to a report by Britain on its former colony.

Libby Hogan reports.

British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab slammed Beijing for undermining the autonomy of Hong Kong in a blistering report delivered on Thursday.

He criticised a national security law imposed by China on the former British colony used to "drastically curtail freedoms" and stifle political opposition.

Raab said there had been "clear breaches" of the 1984 Joint Declaration signed by both China and Britain that guaranteed wide-ranging freedoms for Hong Kong.

That declaration paved the way for the handover of Hong Kong back to China a little over a decade later.

He also singled out the overhaul of the city's electoral system and prosecution decisions made by the Department of Justice.

The Hong Kong government has hit back at what it described as "inaccurate remarks" that could not be "further from the truth and are clearly double standards".

The security law, which was introduced in June last year, punishes what authorities broadly define as secession, sedition and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.