The Foreign Office in Britain has made waves by saying that Beijing’s plans for electoral reform in Hong Kong- the entire reason behind the Occupy Central movement- are “better than nothing” according the South China Morning Post.

According to Asia-Pacific Director Steven Lille, the British Foreign Office believes that following Beijing’s framework whereby candidates for the Chief Executive of Hong Kong would be drawn from a pool of candidates pre-selected by Beijing, could still allow for a ‘genuine choice’ for Hong Kong people.

This is the most solid stance that the British Government has taken on the issue since it began, after months of sitting on the fence and drawing criticism from MP’s at home and analysts for ‘impotence’ during the proceedings.

The UK has had a rather rocky relationship with Beijing in recent years, particularly in 2012 after David Cameron’s visit to the Dalai Lama. Relations have since improved and Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit next year but Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire has denied that Britain is in any way ‘kowtowing’ to China’s demands.

This view isn’t shared however, by Hong Kong’s veteran pro-democracy advocate Martin Lee Chu-ming who told SCMP: “I think I can sum up the foreign policy of the British government in three words: more China trade”.

Source: The Diplomat

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Keywords: British Foreign Office Accepts Beijing Hong Kong Reforms