Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

When the handover of Hong Kong to China took place in the 1997, the then Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, had agreements with the Chinese authorities. We all remember the valuable work Lord Patten did in the reform of the RUC on this island. Those agreements provided for democracy and a free press. I ask the Leader to take up with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, the issue that we might approach the Chinese authorities to say that we would prefer that what is going on in China should not happen and that its economic success should be paralleled by the development of democracy and a free press in Hong Kong and throughout China.