Sound bilateral ties built upon respect: commissioner

The head of the Foreign Ministry's Office in Hong Kong said respect is key to sound relations between the SAR and foreign governments. Commissioner Cui Jianchun on Tuesday said sanctions imposed by the West on the territory disrespect the city's authorities. "If we want to build a good, sound relationship, we have to respect each other. That means every country has to respect the Hong Kong SAR government. And whatever things happen, you cannot use your national law to become a long-arm jurisdiction to impose sanctions to other nations, to other individual companies," he said. Cui said none of the consuls-general he's met in Hong Kong were against the city having its national security laws, and that a majority of them supported the legislation. The commissioner also urged foreign governments to support Hong Kong's bid to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Cui said he hopes he could work with the SAR administration during his tenure on the accession bid, as the move would be conducive to the city's development. On the recent visit to China by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, where he discussed the war with Russia with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and met Chief Executive John Lee in Hong Kong, the commissioner said the SAR government is sticking to international law and international norms. "The Hong Kong SAR government, Hong Kong people love to support the peaceful dialogue, peaceful communication as quickly as possible... and to relieve, also to alleviate, to reduce the suffering of the people and to try to do good things for the international community," he said. Cui, a former ambassador, was appointed to the office in April this year, filling the post after his predecessor Liu Guangyuan was named a deputy director of the liaison office.