Asia

China says Britain going down ‘wrong path’ over Hong Kong

adminJuly 21, 20201 Mins read123 Views

BEIJING: China warned Monday (Jul 20) that Britain was heading down "a wrong path" as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was expected to announce the suspension of an extradition treaty with Hong Kong, raising tensions between the countries.

Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China's foreign ministry, told a regular press briefing that Beijing would "firmly counter" any interference in its internal affairs, also slamming suggestions it was mistreating minorities in Xinjiang as "slander".

READ: UK to suspend Hong Kong extradition treaty: Reports

"We urge the UK not to go further down this wrong path, in order to avoid further damage to China-UK relations," Wang said.

"Recent erroneous remarks and measures concerning Hong Kong have seriously violated international law and basic norms governing international relations … China strongly condemns this and firmly opposes it."

A new security law imposed by China on Hong Kong last month has drawn widespread criticism in Britain and elsewhere, and Raab is due later Monday to announce a package of measures similar to those already introduced by the United States, Canada and Australia.

They are expected to include the suspension of an extradition treaty.

Tensions between Hong Kong's former and current rulers have soared over a number of topics recently.

Britain recently bowed to sustained pressure from Washington and ordered the phased removal of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from its 5G network despite warnings of retaliation from Beijing.

Britain's Supreme Court president, meanwhile, suggested last week that the two British judges serving in Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal – under the terms of the territory's handover agreement with China in 1997 – could stand down unless the rule of law was guaranteed in the semi-autonomous city.

Wang said Beijing would "oppose interference in Hong Kong affairs by outside forces" and that judicial independence was "not affected" by the new security law.

READ: China says it will respond resolutely if UK sanctions officials

He also hit back at comments by Raab that accused Beijing of human rights abuses against ethnic and religious minorities in the northwest region of Xinjiang.

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