Xi threatens ‘shattered bones, crushed bodies’

Beijing leader responds to international pressure with warning to those who try to divide or destabilise China

XI JINPING, the Chinese president, warned that efforts to divide or destabilise China would end with “shattered bones”, as international pressure mounted over the government’s handling of protests in Hong Kong and a widespread crackdown on Muslim minority groups.

“Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones,” Mr Xi said, according to CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster.

“And any external forces backing such attempts dividing China will be deemed by the Chinese people as pipedreaming,” he was quoted as saying as he met KP Sharma Oli, the Nepalese prime minister, during China’s first state visit to Nepal in two decades.

Mr Xi’s comments came before a po- tential flashpoint tomorrow, when the Hong Kong government will reconvene its legislative council. Carrie Lam, the embattled chief executive, is scheduled to give a speech, and is expected to formally withdraw the extradition bill that sparked the protests.

With violence escalating, foreign governments including America and the UK are putting more pressure on Beijing to act humanely and up uphold its side of the Sino-british Joint Declaration – an agreement meant to protect freedoms in Hong Kong when the former colony was returned to China.

US politicians have introduced the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, to mandate an annual review to determine whether Hong Kong remained sufficiently autonomous to justify unique treatment by the US. It could sanction individuals over human rights violations and bar them from entering the country.

The bill has drawn bipartisan support and is scheduled to be considered this week, after sailing unanimously through earlier committees.

Protesters first took to the streets over concerns that suspects extradited to China would not receive a fair trial, as Communist Party control contributes to a 99.9 per cent conviction rate.

But after a summer of unrest, a pledge Ms Lam made last month to officially axe the legislation was not enough to appease protesters. Activists have demanded her resignation, an independent inquiry into the police handling of the protests, democratic election reforms, and for all rioting charges to be dropped.

A Hong Kong police officer was slashed in the neck on Sunday.