i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: here in the uk mps are getting our top ready to vote on a range story coal in parliament in the uk of alternatives to the prime minister's brexit deal. gets ready to vote on alternatives losses for turkey's governing to the prime minister's exit deal, party in local elections. the opposition wins in the capital ankara for the first time which has been defeated three times. in 25 years. they will consider a range of alternatives, including a closer tie i'm rico hizon in singapore, to the european union, and whether also on the programme: to the european union, and whether to allow a referendum on the final a comedian who plays a president on tv is on course deal. to win the first round north korea has given its first reaction of ukraine's election. to a break—in at its embassy in spain in february, i am very happy i am here, calling it a grave terrorist attack. pyongyang said it was watching but this is not the final action. rumours that the fbi had played a role. so the final will be what i saw, but we will see the result. and this story is this is the exit poll. trending on bbc.com: new york, paris, milan. now the fashion world is watching a comedian who plays shanghai as designers try to crack a fictional president on tv is on course to win the first the lucrative chinese market. round of ukraine's election. exit polls give the satirist volodymyr zelenskiy a clear lead over the incumbent petro poroshenko, by 30%—17%. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, zeinab badawi

is in hong kong with hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me, zeinab badawi. there are complaints by pro—democracy activists here that beijing is increasing its control of the territory and eroding its freedoms, in contravention of an agreement in 1997 between britain and china. my my guest is bernard chan. how much autonomy does hong kong really enjoy, and what does the situation here tell us about the direction that china as a whole is moving?

bernard chan, in hong kong, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you got back recently from baiting where you were a delegate at the national people's congress. how does the leadership in beijing view hong kong? well, obviously hong kong plays a very important role for china, especially during these whole trade war tensions. now, hong kong is a special administrative region, so we are china and yet we have a special status. we have different trade agreements with the rest of the world, so i think we play a very special purpose for them. and you have met president xi jinping multiple times, in groups, discussing hong kong and other affairs. when he was vice president, he was in charge of hong kong. you also knew him there. what is his personal opinion of hong kong? well, asi personal opinion of hong kong? well, as i said, hong kong is a very special place for china, and we are pa rt special place for china, and we are part of china, but yet we have the special status. we can do things that perhaps the rest of china can't do. we have the rule of law, that

international investors would like to do business with. so i think we have this very special status for china that i think is notjust for the 8 million hong kong people, it also serves a purpose for the 1.3 billion chinese. so does president xijinping see you billion chinese. so does president xi jinping see you very much as part of china? because you do have this special status. because there is concern in china about what some describe as his increasing authoritarianism and centralisation. imean, i authoritarianism and centralisation. i mean, i will give you an example of just i mean, i will give you an example ofjust one critic, a 90—year—old economist, who has seen so many trends in china. he says president xi ‘s idea of governance is less liberty and more control. he scrapped the two term limits last year so he could in fact to be president for life, if you wanted to. he has had a huge purge of his critics and this anti—corruption drive, i mean, there are numerous exa m ples drive, i mean, there are numerous examples one could cite. you know, i

have been involved in politics in hong kong, and china is 8 million people, less than 8 million, china is1.3 people, less than 8 million, china is 1.3 billion, and you can imagine it is not an easyjob, so obviously china... not an easy job for who? for the leaders in china, in beijing. china has actually done amazing things over the last a0 yea rs. amazing things over the last a0 years. the economic reforms have basically lifted most poverty out of china, from the chinese. but how do you move that forward? now, we have 300 million middle class in china. how are you going to continue to meet those expectations? through increasing authoritarianism, then? well, i think there is a mix of... if you let all chinese behave the way they want to behave, i think china would be a very different place today. so i think you do need some sort of a top—down approach. but you are right. i mean, how much longer you can continue this way? but i think for now, i think it is probably the best way for china, to have certain control, certain

directions from the top. although hong kong operates very differently, thatis hong kong operates very differently, that is why we have the two systems. hong kong is more market—driven, whereas china is more central, top—down approaches. whereas china is more central, top-down approaches. so you accept, then, that there is increasing authoritarianism and centralisation by president xi, concentrating power in his own hands? well, i wouldn't say concentrating power, butjust to give an example, the greater belt area, and that basically covers the area, and that basically covers the area of nine cities, near this region, plus hong kong and macau. and it is going to be an effort that sta rts and it is going to be an effort that starts in beijing. but you can imagine, if it is not being co—ordinated at the beijing level, if you leave it to these nine cities in hong kong and macau to the side, we can never decide, because we are competing amongst each other as well. so you do need some sort of co—ordinating efforts at the beijing level to orchestrate this sort of thing. soi level to orchestrate this sort of thing. so i wouldn't call this a completely, like, an authoritarian type of style, but for a country of

this size, you do need some sort of co—ordinating effort at the top. this size, you do need some sort of co-ordinating effort at the top. all right, you say co—ordinating, as i say, critics say centralisation. given that hong kong has been given inafairly given that hong kong has been given in a fairly high level of autonomy enshrined in the basic law, it's kind of mini constitution, which was agreed in 1987 when it was handed over from the united agreed in 1987 when it was handed overfrom the united kingdom to china, they are... people are trying to see now just china, they are... people are trying to see nowjust what is president xi ‘s interpretation of hong kong's special status, as you havejust outlined? i special status, as you havejust outlined ? i will give special status, as you havejust outlined? i will give you an idea, two years ago, when he came here to welcome the new administration, carrie lamb, he said any attempt to endanger china's sovereignty and security challenge the power of central government or and the authority of basic law, or use hong kong to carry out infiltration and sabotage activities against the mainland, is an act which crosses the redline. —— lam. mainland, is an act which crosses the redline. -- lam. indeed. what is that redline? well, the red line is

that redline? well, the red line is that hong kong is very much part of china. the thing about hong kong as we are the two systems in one country. so the redline clearly is you cannot ever mention the separation of hong kong. you cannot ever mention the separation of hong kongm you cannot ever mention the separation of hong kong. it sounds like a threat, though, doesn't it, don't cross the redline? well, i think it is reminding a very small pa rt think it is reminding a very small part of hong kong that actually have this illusion that hong kong can be... that hong kong has full autonomy. we have a high degree of autonomy, but it doesn't mean that there is any hope of a separation from china. so i think that is basically a reminder to a small part of hong kong that may have that illusion. which small part? well, you know, a lot of the younger people, they may not have the experience of understanding the changeover. you know, hong kong returned to china now for 21 years, so returned to china now for 21 years, so for many of those born after that, they may not have this appreciation. he is threatening the pro—independence activists, people like andy chan and his national party, which was banned from standing in any elections, agnes

chow, a young pro—democracy activist who wanted to stand in a by—election last year, she was also not allowed. you know what, i certainly would agree that those individuals that you just mentioned, they don't represent hong kong. the rest of hong kong people, we very much feel that we are part of china. however... but they represent a minority, however small that minority, however small that minority might be. absolutely, a minority, but this minority can now be completely —— cannot be com pletely be completely —— cannot be completely ignored, and if you ignore them, this small minority might increasingly feel that this can be doable. which it is not. hong kong can never be and independent pa rt kong can never be and independent part of china. that may be the case, and indeed, i give you a quote from jeremy hunt, the british foreign secretary, who says the uk government's view on independence is well known. we believe that it is neither realistic nor desirable option for hong kong. he says, however, the right of freedom of expression, speech and academic freedom are enshrined in the basic law, and he calls on the hong kong

government to create an environment that supports open debates and enables people to represent a full range of political opinion to play a role in the city's governance. so his point is, even if you don't agree with these pro—independence activists, you've got to allow them the space to express their opinions. well, and we do. but you are not, because you are banning them from standing. well, that's different. we are banning them from operating as a but we can certainly talk about this subject, as we are talking about it right now. these subjects are being discussed at our university level, day—to—day life, we talk about these sorts of issues. there is no—one telling us not to. but we honestly don't endorse them to operate as a party, to encourage independence. that is the redline. are you really allowing them to speak, though? i will give you an example. paul tang, a bookseller in hong kong, forced to close down his shop because he was selling books which are forbidden by the communist party in beijing, and

joshua wong, another pro—democracy activist, says this marks definitive proof of hong kong's lack of freedom. well, if you have the chance to visit our legislature, you can see this debate is very lively. so we certainly can talk about it. now what i think a lot of people are confused, visually, or optically, is what happened in china. in china thatis what happened in china. in china that is a different story. i think in hong kong these types of topics, these types of issues, i discussed very lively every day. of course we maintain that freedom of expression in hong kong. so you are saying that there is no freedom of speech or expression in china, the mainland, but that there is actually in hong kong. everyone understands that we operate a very different way than the rest of china. that is why the two systems exist very lively in hong kong. but then why would, for example, since 201a, the pro—democracy umbrella revolution protesters, even since then, are still protesting as they were outside the university of hong kong in march, protesters saying we

condemn the punishment of four stu d e nts condemn the punishment of four students because they were defending freedom of speech. you have got people who disagree with you... well, i don't think anywhere else in the world would allow students blocking the major highways of any city for almost 90 days. i think 80 days. it is unheard of. i think the fa ct days. it is unheard of. i think the fact that we are so accommodating with the students, and they continue to express freely at the university level, but of course, i do not believe that they represent the majority, though, however, of the hong kong citizens. the rest of the hong kong citizens. the rest of the hong kong citizens. the rest of the hong kong citizens, in fact, would not agree with them. that is why the whole. .. you mentioned not agree with them. that is why the whole... you mentioned the umbrella movement, towards the end, they don't get the support of the hong kong citizens. carrie lam, the chief executive who you advise, has said hong kong, our home, is suffering from quite a lot of divisiveness. she said that at the time of her election, two years ago. even she

accepts that there is this divided opinion in hong kong. you can't brush it under the carpet, you have to do something about it. well, we don't, but i have to remind you the majority of the hong kong people, they are much... we have better worries than hong kong independence. i keep repeating, that is a very small part of hong kong. the bigger pa rt small part of hong kong. the bigger part of hong kong, we worry about oui’ part of hong kong, we worry about our future. you know, part of hong kong, we worry about ourfuture. you know, are we going to continue to be prosperous? are we worried about being marginalised? with what is happening in the rest of the world, and vis—a—vis china? those are the bigger issues that we are facing, of housing affordability. we have tons of other topics that we need to pay much more attention than talking about the independence of hong kong, which is a nonstarter. that is why i kept saying, for the international audience, maybe they feel this is the burning issue, but they are not for hong kong people. one show not everybody who is a pro—democracy activist actually advocates independence. the two things are separate. there are those who are genuinely concerned about an erosion of the rights which are enshrined in the basic law. so you are

criticising here the pro—independence, and i said to you i accept that this is a tiny, tiny minority. but there is a wider body of opinion who is concerned about the control that is coming from beijing. but i totally disagree there is any erosion of what we have been allowed to do in hong kong. freedom of expression has continued, the rule of law has continued. you look at our court system in hong kong. 80% of the judges on these courts of final appeal, the most senior court, not even chinese, and 60% practice in the common law jurisdiction, so we remain very independent. you raise the courts, but there is a big fear that the judiciary is losing its impartiality. there is a big fear, but it is not true. as i mentioned to you, the court are very independent, because the majority of them practising the common law jurisdictions. but there was an open letter signed by 12 lawyers including the former uk lord chancellor, lord faulkner, and six other qcs in 2017 responding to the

jailing of the pro—democracy protest leaders. but they said this. a serious threat to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, a pillar of hong kong, risks becoming a charade. at the beck and call of the chinese communist party, hong kong's rule of law and basic freedoms at the heart of the principle of one country, two systems, now face grave threats. they disagree with you about the independence of the courts and the judiciary. as far as as farasi as far as i know people are coming to hong kong to invest because they trust our legal system will be independent and i have not seen one case flow. independent and i have not seen one case now. one of oui’ independent and i have not seen one case now. one of our rivalries, i won't mention any names in the city, you know, ithink won't mention any names in the city, you know, i think in hong kong we the government lost more cases than that city ever had, so we remain biased, we remain independent. they adjudicate over whatever is

inscribed in the law. so i disagree and that is why we continue to see investors coming to hong kong to use this as a base to invest in the rest of china. is that the case? because you work in business, you come from afamily you work in business, you come from a family involved in insurance and banking. you sit on the boards of both chinese and foreign companies. i put this to you, charles, former it executive who represents the it sector in the legislative council set at the end of last year previously when i went abroad to promote investment people asked whether they could make money, now they are asking me about freedom of expression and the rule of law related problems. i totally agree. when i go abroad... that is the point. investors are concerned. they asked that question because all of the news they have a is all about the news they have a is all about theissues the news they have a is all about the issues with this one country goblin like independence and weather reporters are allowed to report. all they hear is that. they don't see what happens day today where business is striving and people continue to invest and using the

advantage of that system. they only get to hearfrom advantage of that system. they only get to hear from the international media all of the things relating to the politics. that is your answer to that. which is true. i will put you a very informed opinion to clarify the point i was trying to make you, yu siu from the intelligence unit, says fong delmer hong kong is founded on the autonomy from china, potential growing influence over the territory is likely to bring concerns from hong kong's major trading partners. we are already seeing investor confidence being shaken in hong kong because of people's concerns about lack of transparency and the kind of things they have seen going on in the mainland coming in. that is exactly why it is a two system and why people are coming to hong kong because we are transparent. i think central government prefer to keep the two system the way it is because thatis the two system the way it is because that is exactly the reason why people would like to come to hong kong, use hong kong as the pathway

to invest in china. the rule of law here is something that international investors are very comfortable with. that is exactly why you mentioned that i have on many occasions met with xijinping on that i have on many occasions met with xi jinping on a that i have on many occasions met with xijinping on a group that i have on many occasions met with xi jinping on a group setting and each time he reminded that the two system needs to continue the way it is. china also wants to see two system thrive. well there are warnings that hong kong does risk being hurt by deteriorating us—china relations and it can't longer pretend hong kong has autonomy from beijing. that is of you. let me ask you, much has been made of the trade tensions between china and the us and that trade flows through hong kong. there are concerns over the chinese telecoms giant huawei and its investments and involvement in sensitive parts of western economies. what is your view on that? do you think that will affect hong kong, or are that? do you think that will affect hong kong, orare you that? do you think that will affect hong kong, or are you going to be protected from that?” hong kong, or are you going to be protected from that? i think it would be foolish to say that we...

0ur would be foolish to say that we... our economy is linked with china today. what happened between the trade talks between the us and china will have an effect on hong kong either directly or more likely indirectly. yes, sure. ijust hope that they will manage to work out something, because it is certainly not in the interest of both china and the us to escalate any more of these so—called trade tensions. and the us to escalate any more of these so—called trade tensionsm this really about trade between the two, this rivalry, or is it more of a geostrategic chessboard chess game that's going on? sure, i think with the rise of china, clearly it probably got a little bit uncomfortable somewhat. i think so. i think china has to be smart about this. while we continue to improve the likelihood of people, we certainly do not want to give this impression to their friends and their neighbours that, you know, of

any chinese aggression. because i certainly don't think that is the intention of the government. the chinese government has a bigger problem to deal with, their own people. how can you continue to improve the livelihood of the 1.3 billion people and the increasing expectation from the middle class in china. but unfortunately, you know, i think it may have got into the nerve of some of the other neighbours. so i think we need to be careful. in fact, neighbours. so i think we need to be careful. infact, in neighbours. so i think we need to be careful. in fact, in the recent speech from president xi, i think his message is changed these days. i think he wants to make sure that china wants to be very much part of the rest of the world as well. so it's not all about china. it has to bea it's not all about china. it has to be a global effort. so you mention how economic prosperity is important for china and obviously for the people here in hong kong. i put it to you that hong kong actually, in terms of looking at it as part of china as a whole, has diminishing

economic clout. at the time of the handover in 1997, hong kong contributed 20% of china's gdp. it has now gone down to 3%. you're not as important as you once were. exactly as you put it, this is a bigger problem than what we discussed earlier about hong kong independence. that is not the problem. i wasn't talking about independence, i wasn't advocating that. i was talking about the rollback of the democratic freedoms enshrined in the basic law. fair enough. the biggest question we need to is can we continue to be meaningful to the rest of china? our next door neighbour not far from here, you know, 30 years ago...m isa here, you know, 30 years ago...m is a province. fishing village. today, my goodness, there gdp is supposedly at the same level as hong kong. and they are now the silicon valley of china. so huawei, tencent, they are all based there. so clearly

we are no longer... of course, thanks to the two system there are things hong kong continue to do. none of the other cities in china can. but again, we can no longer just assume that we can only be the largest contributor to the chinese economy. therefore you mentioned the greater bay initiative, the idea to integrate hong kong, physically through infrastructure, with macau and also nine cities in glendon province. doesn't that reallyjust make hong kong just like any other chinese city? -- guangdong. not at all, the word you chose just now, integration, is yes and no. we try to figure out a way how we can take advantage of each other. there are certain things... we are not integrating. we still need to keep the two system. that is why the special status is so important. there are things we can do. that is what i am making, this greater bay

area, linking you with guangdong province makes you like any other regular chinese city. no, it is how we can tap into each other‘s strength. for the rest of the nine cities in china they can now come hopefully into the future, they can access hong kong for wealth management projects that they have no a ccess management projects that they have no access to back in their cities. they can come to hong kong because we are the two system, we have products, whether it's healthcare, education, and wealth management products. things that they have no access to and now they have a chance. so i think it goes two ways. it is allowing the bay area, these nine cities, to take advantage of what the two system can offer to them. is it really two systems, though? there are so many people, including even the european parliament in november 2017, who have said that, look, beijing's co nsta nt have said that, look, beijing's constant interference in hong kong puts out risks, to use its words, the long—term viability of the one

country, two systems model. we are already really looking at more, one country, rather than two systems. that's not true. back to the point i mentioned, the so—called interference you are referring to is when you cross the line. beijing is very happy to keep hong kong the way it is because it serves a purpose. you just can't cross that line. that line... does it really serve a purpose, though, if it allows hong kong to have the kind of democratic freedoms that perhaps other people in mainland china long for, whether it's in tibet and so on, beijing is concerned that those freedoms may in fa ct concerned that those freedoms may in fact the rest of china. no. all you hear about is those democratic type of discussions. what we talk about too is china, most of the major chinese companies ipo take place in hong kong because this is the place where they can get listed, international investors.

international public offering, ipo. that's right, they want it to work, it serves them a purpose. but, of course, as i keep repeating myself, so long as i don't cross the line, you don't cross the line talking about any sort of separation of hong kong from china, from what i understand for the rest of the issues china wants to leave it to hong kong to run the city the way you want it based on the rule of law that we have under the constitution. and very quickly, what happens in 20a7 after the 50 year transition? excellent question, that everyone asks ourselves. i don't think even the leaders today in beijing knows the leaders today in beijing knows the answer because it is still 20 yea rs the answer because it is still 20 years ago. it is really up to hong kong to decide. if we continue to serve china purpose, i believe that we might continue the way it is, even post 20a7. but if we lose that purpose, then of course we are becoming more one country. losing your freedoms in 20a7 after the 50 yea rs your freedoms in 20a7 after the 50 years is over? we lose the special system, special status. that is why

we have to continue to be able to find a purpose notjust for the 7—.8 million people in hong kong, it is for the million people in hong kong, it is forthe1.3 million people in hong kong, it is for the 1.3 billion people and i believe that we can. gurnard chan, thank you very much indeed for coming on hardtalk. thank you very much. —— bernard chan. hello again. we are going to see some big changes in our weather over the next few days of this week. not much snow on the mountains in scotland at the moment in this weather watch picture sent to us by "colliestun". but you got a sense that that's going to change in a big way for scotland over the next few days as our weather turned significantly colder. 0n the satellite picture, we've got a streak of cloud to the north—west of the uk. that's a cold front that's working

in towards our shores. but if you're heading outside over the next few hours, the only place you're likely to come across rain is northern ireland, and even here the rain will be patchy in nature. clear spells further east allowing some frost, so it will be quite a chilly start for a number of us first thing in the morning. there is our area of high pressure slipping away to the continent. and here comes our cold front, bringing that thickening cloud, and eventually outbreaks of rain. the rain will return heavy and steady through the day for western scotland and for northern ireland. but for eastern scotland, for most of england and wales, they have another fine day coming up with some spring sunshine, the best of it across southern counties. it might be april the first, but don't be fooled by those rising temperatures in cardiff, highs up to 16 degrees. there is one direction of travel for the weather, and that is for things to get much colder. through monday evening and nighttime, we will see the band of rain, our cold front, sink southwards across northern ireland and scotland, into parts of england and wales through the night. ahead of the front,

seven degrees in london. starting to get the colder air tucking across scotland and northern ireland — a shape of things to come. so really from tuesday onwards it is then that we will start to see the cold air digging in. turning colder, rain or showers, be cold enough for some hill snow and some overnight frost as well. this area of low pressure is going to be slipping southwards during tuesday, dragging in cold winds coming all the way from within the arctic circle. 0ur cold front by this stage will be pushing eastwards, taking the rain with it on tuesday. the colder air following. sunshine and showers — some of the shower heavy with hail and thunder and there will be snow on the hills as well. now a look at the temperatures. highs of seven degrees in belfast. factor in those strong northerly winds, it really is going to feel quite cold, especially compared with the weather we've seen over recent days. low pressure then stays with us through the rest of the week, really. this area of low pressure in the north sea bringing rain and potentially some significant mountain snow across scotland and perhaps also the pennines

as well for a time on wednesday. elsewhere, another day of sunshine and heavy showers. the thing with the showers is, when they come along they, could drop the temperatures over a short period of time by four orfive degrees, so it is going to feel pretty chilly out and about.