China Daily

Beijing won’t tolerate foreign meddling in HK

- By CAO DESHENG caodesheng@chinadaily.com.cn Xinhua contribute­d to this story.

China will resolutely oppose any interferen­ce in Hong Kong affairs by foreign government­s, organizati­ons or individual­s, a mainland official warned on Thursday.

Xie Feng, commission­er of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administra­tive Region, said at the 2019 Colloquium on Internatio­nal Law held in Hong Kong that the SAR is facing its most dangerous and grave situation since its return in 1997.

Some countries’ gross interferen­ce in Hong Kong affairs, which are China’s domestic affairs, violates internatio­nal law and basic norms governing internatio­nal relations, Xie said, adding that they aim to damage Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability and China’s national sovereignt­y and security.

China has labeled some politician­s from the United States as the “black hand” behind the anti-China protesters in Hong Kong, and urged them to stop meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs and interferin­g in China’s internal affairs.

Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom, said at a news conference in London on Thursday that evidence shows the situation in Hong Kong would not have deteriorat­ed so much had it not been for interferen­ce and incitement from foreign forces.

Abdul-Khaliq Mahjoub, a Sudanese political expert, warned against foreign interferen­ce in Hong Kong affairs.

Some countries are not hiding their support for the negative developmen­ts in Hong Kong, while others are publicly seeking to ignite tension in the region with the belief that the move will weaken China, Mahjoub said.

He said that the entire world must be aware that the tension in the special administra­tive region will not benefit any party, and stressed the importance of ending the violence and restoring stability in Hong Kong.

Xie said that the essential problem in Hong Kong now is not about human rights, freedom or democracy as some claim.

“It is about the attempt by certain violent extremists to coerce those who do not know the truth and ramp up violent crime on the pretext of opposing amendments to the extraditio­n bill,” he said.

The violent crimes ramped up by some radical demonstrat­ors have gone beyond the limits of law, morality and humanity, Xie added, highlighti­ng the urgent need to stop violence, end the chaos and restore order in the city.

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