China threatens US retaliation for supporting Hong Kong protests
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned a senior US diplomat and threatened retaliatory measures against Washington after the US Senate adopted a law supporting demonstrators in Hong Kong, which has been under protests since June.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu has summoned the acting US Embassy William Klein to formally protest the text of the Senate-approved bill that provides for sanctions against those responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The deputy foreign minister told the US diplomat that the situation in Hong Kong was part of China’s internal affairs and called on the United States to stop its intervention, the ministry said.
Planting mayhem “The US objective is only to support extremists and anti-China who are trying to sow chaos in Hong Kong … to achieve its ominous goal of impeding China’s development by exploiting the Hong Kong issue,” said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.
On Wednesday, US lawmakers unanimously approved a bill supporting “human rights and democracy” in Hong Kong, threatening to abolish Washington’s special trade status for the autonomous city under Chinese sovereignty.
The bill, which would come into effect if the president signs it, would ban Hong Kong authorities from selling tear gas, rubber bullets and other equipment used by security to quell the five-month-old protests.
Two texts in Congress Last month, the US House of Representatives adopted a bill similar to that of the Senate. The two chambers are supposed to try to reconcile the two texts into a single text passed by Congress before sending it to President Donald Trump for signature.
Protests in Hong Kong, a former British colony, escalated after soldiers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) appeared on the city’s streets a few days ago. The crisis was the outbreak of a protest movement against the attempt by the government of President Kari Lam to pass a controversial bill approving extradition to China.
Under pressure from protests and the political crisis, Carrie Lam withdrew the bill, but protesters continued their protests in order to meet other demands, most notably broad democratic reforms, an independent investigation into police excessive violence against protesters, unconditional release of detainees, and failure to describe the protests as acts. Riot, direct elections for the post of CEO of the city.
Source: Agencies