HONG KONG — Former British governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten said it was "quite simply wrong" for Beijing to urge the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club to cancel a planned speech by an independence activist.

Patten's comments came after China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stepped in to ask the club to cancel the talk by Andy Chan of the Hong Kong National Party, a group threatened with a ban.

Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under an agreement which granted it limited autonomy and protected its way of life for 50 years, giving it rights unseen on the mainland including freedom of speech.

But concern is growing that those freedoms are being eroded by an increasingly assertive Beijing.

"There is no justification for censoring people because you don't like what they have to say," said Patten in comments emailed to AFP as the FCC row escalates.

He said freedom of speech was one of the "hallmarks of an open society living under the rule of law" and was protected by the handover agreement.

"I have consistently argued against the idea of advocating independence for Hong Kong," added Patten, who has spoken several times at the FCC.

"But I also continue to argue for Hong Kong's liberties and local autonomy. It is quite simply wrong for Beijing's Communist foreign ministry to get involved with an issue which should be determined within Hong Kong."

Chan's talk is due to take place on Aug. 14 and is part of a "club lunch" tradition which has seen an array of speakers, including Chinese officials, address members and the media.

In a statement Monday the FCC said it championed freedom of speech and the press, and "fully respects the law".

"We believe that in free societies such as Hong Kong it is vitally important to allow people to speak and debate freely, even if one does not agree with their particular views," the club said.

China's Foreign Ministry recently requested a meeting with the FCC and asked for the event to be cancelled, a source told AFP.

In a statement issued Friday, the ministry said: "We resolutely oppose any external forces providing a platform for 'Hong Kong independence' elements to spread fallacies."

City leader Carrie Lam, appointed by a pro-Beijing committee, also weighed in Sunday, expressing "regret" at the planned event and noting that the historic club building is government-owned.

Activists calling for independence from Hong Kong emerged from the failure of the mass pro-democracy Umbrella Movement rallies of 2014 to win political reform.

Any talk of a split has become a red flag for Beijing, which has ramped up rhetoric against threats to its territorial integrity under President Xi Jinping.

Hong Kong police last month sought to ban Chan's party — which promotes the city's independence from China but only has a core membership of around a dozen people — citing it as a national security threat.

Hong Kong's security chief had said he was considering the police request while the party was given a few weeks to make representations.

Pro-independence campaigners and politicians calling for self-determination for Hong Kong have been banned from standing for office and disqualified from the legislature. — AFP