2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

Asia Pacific> Global Weekly> Content
Monday, July 08, 2019, 12:31
China slams foreign interference in Hong Kong
By Li Bingcun in Hong Kong
Monday, July 08, 2019, 12:31 By Li Bingcun in Hong Kong

Foreign countries have been told to stay out of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s affairs following the violent storming of the city’s legislature by radical demonstrators.

Central authorities in charge of the nation’s foreign affairs reiterated that foreign countries have no right to meddle in the affairs of the HKSAR as these are China’s internal affairs.

The warning came after officials of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union made remarks after the July 1 riot.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Geng Shuang said in Beijing that China deplores and strongly rejects such gross interference in the country’s internal affairs.

Telling foreign officials to be cautious with their behavior and comments, he said no interference in the HKSAR’s affairs in any form would be tolerated.

He urged other nations not to support violent lawbreakers, and avoid sending any misleading signal or take any erroneous action.

Geng also hit out at what he called “blatant” double standards practiced by some countries on the issue.

He asked if such countries would adopt a laissez-faire attitude if similar violence were to occur on their own soil.

“We’ve all seen how the police had handled such violent behavior in the US and Europe on television. Yet, when it happens in Hong Kong, they fail to condemn it. Instead, they make irresponsible and indiscreet remarks and called for the right to peaceful protest in a seemingly fair manner,” Geng said.

This is really hypocritical and hideous, he said.

For three days in a row, the Foreign Ministry spokesman responded to British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who said the Sino-British Joint Declaration still is legally binding on Hong Kong. On July 3, Geng said all the rights and responsibilities related to the British government inscribed in the joint declaration have been fulfilled since July 1, 1997.

Hunt is “indulging in the illusion of the good old days of British colonialism and obsessed with the bad habit of commenting and interfering in other countries’ internal affairs”, Geng said. 

In response to Hunt’s remarks that Hong Kong people’s freedom was the result of the UK’s endeavor, Geng questioned whether there was any democracy in the city during the 155 years under British rule. “People didn’t even have the right to take to the streets to protest,” he said.

The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR questioned the foreign forces’ hidden agenda for condoning violent criminals in the city.

It urged these nations to comply with the basic principle of international laws and relations, and respect China’s sovereign security and the HKSAR’s administration in accordance with the law. “Otherwise, they will hurt themselves by their own doings,” a spokesperson said.

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, the city’s largest labor group, strongly condemned US Consul General for Hong Kong and Macao Kurt Tong’s continuous intervention in the HKSAR’s internal affairs.

The federation said its members have staged a protest against Tong, demanding that he stop hurting Hong Kong’s social order immediately and apologize for his inappropriate comments.

bingcun@chinadailyhk.com


Share this story

CHINA DAILY
HONG KONG NEWS
OPEN
Please click in the upper right corner to open it in your browser !