Top legislature interprets HK law

BEIJING - Sovereign countries cannot be sued in Hong Kong courts, China's top legislature ruled on Friday, a decision that brings the city's judicial system in line with the Chinese mainland's.

Lawmakers at the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee unanimously agreed on an interpretation of two clauses in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region that say the absolute state immunity principle, a State policy on the Chinese mainland, also applies to Hong Kong.

"Since state immunity falls in the domain of a country's foreign affairs, it is up to the central government to make decisions about the policy, which should be applied universally within the territory of the People's Republic of China," the top legislature said in a written statement released at the close of its bimonthly meeting.