CHINA: HK VIOLENCE ‘UNACCEPTABLE,’ TO BE DEALT WITH

PARIS—CHINA’S foreign minister on Monday denounced the “unacceptable” violence by protesters in Hong Kong, saying they had been encouraged by “foreign forces.”

“What is happening in Hong Kong today are in no way peaceful protests,” Wang Yi said in an interview with Agence Francepresse (AFP) in Paris.

“It’s violence pure and simple. These are unacceptable acts in any country,” he added, accusing the protesters of attacking police and passersby and paralyzing transport.

Hong Kong has been riven by increasingly violent protests for almost five months, with demonstrators demanding greater democracy and police accountability as violence spirals on all sides.

China runs Hong Kong under a special “one country, two systems” model that grants the international hub certain liberties but ensures the city’s leadership ultimately answers to Beijing.

“There are foreign forces which are encouraging this sort of violence in the streets with the aim of destabilizing Hong Kong, sowing chaos … to wipe out the historic progress made since the ‘one country, two systems’ policy was applied,” said Wang.

“Such action will never succeed,” he added, insisting that the Hong Kong government would be able to reestablish “social order and respect for the rule of law.”

With “support from Beijing, Hong Kong will continue to apply the ‘one country, two systems’ formula,” Wang stressed.