China, UK spar over HK, Huawei

LONDON: Foreign secretary Dominic Raab hinted on Sunday that he may suspend the UK’S extradition arrangements with Hong Kong over China’s national security law, and accused Beijing of “gross and egregious” human rights abuses against its Uighur population in Xinjiang.

In response, the Chinese envoy to UK warned that Beijing will deliver a “resolute response” to any move by Britain to sanction officials over the alleged rights abuses. “If UK government goes that far to impose sanctions on any individual in China, China will certainly make a resolute response to it,” Liu Xiaoming told the BBC. “You’ve seen what happens in the US, they sanction Chinese officials, we sanction their senators, their officials - I do not want to see this tit-for-tat happen in.. China-uk relations.”

Meanwhile, Communist Party officials in Beijing have warned

British companies doing business in China they’re set to face retaliation over the government’s decision to stop working with Huawei Technologies Co, the Sunday Times reported.

In a separate report that may irk the White House, the Observer newspaper said British government officials privately told Huawei the decision stemmed partly from US pressure. They gave the impression it could be reviewed if President Donald Trump is not re-elected.

China’s top university has sacked a law professor, who is a staunch critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party leadership including the constitutional amendment facilitating indefinite tenure for President Xi Jinping. Xu Zhangrun, an outspoken Chinese law professor of the Tsinghua University, has been formally notified of his removal on Saturday, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday. Xi is an alumnus of Tsinghua University.