The UK said Thursday that China had again shown a “clear breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration by imposing new rules to disqualify elected lawmakers in Hong Kong. “China has once again broken its promises and undermined Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy,” said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. "The UK will stand up for the people of Hong Kong, and call out violations of their rights and freedoms," Mr Raab said. "With our international partners, we will hold China to the obligations it freely assumed under international law." The UK now considers China to have broken the Joint Declaration three times including in 2016, and earlier this year when Beijing installed a sweeping national security law. The UN-registered treaty, signed in 1984, was aimed at preserving Hong Kong’s unique way of life for at least 50 years after the former British colony was returned to Beijing in 1997. Britain has also summoned the Chinese ambassador to register deep concern and is “carefully considering” whether to impose sanctions on Chinese officials, Nigel Adams, Minister for Asia, told parliament.