Seven former foreign secretaries have written a letter to the British government urging the UK to take the lead in coordinating an international response to the crisis in Hong Kong, local media reported on Monday.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media.

The letter, from both Conservative and Labour ex-top diplomats, said: “When it comes to Hong Kong’s autonomy under the ‘one country, two systems’ model, many of our international partners continue to take their cue from the British government.

“I’m sure you would agree, as a co-signatory of the Sino-British joint declaration the UK must be seen to be leading and coordinating the international response to this crisis and ensuring the integrity of the treaty lodged at the United Nations in 1985 and one country, two systems.”

It was signed by former foreign secretaries Jeremy Hunt, David Miliband, Jack Straw, William Hague, Malcolm Rifkind, David Owen, and Margaret Beckett.

They called on the government to set up an international contact group such as the one set up in the 1990s to deal with the crisis in the former Yugoslavia.