The imposition of the national security law is “a serious blow” to Hong Kong’s autonomy that has “swept over” the freedoms promised to city residents in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the outgoing British consul general said on Monday.

Andrew Heyn, speaking in an interview with Apple Daily, said the Joint Declaration is still a valid treaty, and that it remains an urgent task to safeguard those features that make Hong Kong special.

“When you see something like the national security law, the disqualification of members of Legco, the fact that [a] candidate was disqualified, you have to say that the high degree of autonomy has been damaged here,” Heyn said. The diplomat was speaking ahead of his departure this week, after being stationed in the city for more than four years.

Heyn said China regards the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which sealed the city’s fate, as “a historical document.” But he noted that it remains a valid, legally binding treaty, registered with the United Nations and promising the city 50 years’ unchanged freedoms and systems. This is the reason why Britain has been vocal about the situation of Hong Kong, he explained.

Asked if the “one country, two systems” framework is already dead, Heyn said one needs to look at Hong Kong’s four pillars: the executive and legislative branches; people’s rights and freedom enshrined in the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, and the Sino-British Joint Declaration; the rule of law and independent judiciary; and the city’s business environment.

“One country, two systems has not been working as it should,” Heyn said, adding that the only pillars that are still functioning are judicial independence and a conducive business environment. Foreign investors and businessmen want to invest and live in Hong Kong “because Hong Kong is different, and I think guarding that difference is really an important part,” he said.

A number of activists including disqualified lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui have fled to the U.K. since the implementation of the national security law, but Heyn declined to comment on individual cases.

“Because it’s such a fast-moving situation, I mean, since the story broke a few days ago, and [Ted] appeared in Europe and since he’s gone to the U.K. So I’m afraid I’m not going to speculate on Ted’s individual case,” Heyn says. “What I would say is that the U.K. has a reputation for, if people are legally allowed to be in the U.K., then they can be.”

But the evident attempts to silence the political opposition is worrying, Heyn said. “People who want to engage in that [opposition] should be able to do that here, and that’s why we are worried about what appears to be a trend to make political opposition more difficult,” he said. “What you want is peaceful and lawful opposition.”

On the latest updates of the British citizenship pathway for those who are eligible for the British National (Overseas) passport, Heyn said a finalized version of the policy will be announced before Jan. 31, when it takes effect. He stressed that the policy is only a change of Britain’s immigration policy, rather than a matter of directly giving British citizenship to BNO holders, as that would breach the Joint Declaration.

Beijing has threatened multiple times that it would consider not recognizing the BNO as a legitimate travel document. But “it’s not that easy to say ‘we don’t recognize that anymore’,” said Heyn, because the BNO is an internationally recognized travel document. He declined to speculate about what kind of actions China might take against BNO holders, but he hopes Beijing will have second thoughts before taking action against them, he said.

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