China criticises Britain for ‘shameless’ comments on Hong Kong

Riot police clear the streets outside the Legislative Council building, after protesters stormed the building on the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China, in Hong Kong, China - REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters): China on Wednesday denounced British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt as “shameless”, saying it had made a diplomatic complaint to London after he warned of consequences if China neglected commitments made when it took back Hong Kong in 1997.

China has stepped up a war of words with Hong Kong’s former colonial ruler following mass protests there against a now suspended bill that would allow extradition to mainland China.

“To say that the freedoms of Hong Kong residents is something Britain strived for is simply shameless,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing.

“I would like to ask Mr. Hunt, during the British colonial era in Hong Kong, was there any democracy to speak of? Hong Kongers didn’t even have the right to protest.”

Only after Hong Kong’s return to China did its people got an “unprecedented” guarantee about democracy and freedom, he said.

Britain’s responsibilities to Hong Kong under the Sino-British Joint Declaration have ended, and Hong Kong is purely an internal matter for China, Geng added, repeating earlier remarks.

The comments followed remarks by Hunt to Reuters on Monday, condemning violence on both sides and warning of consequences if China neglected commitments to allow freedoms to Hong Kong not enjoyed in mainland China, including the right to protest.

Late on Monday, hundreds of protesters in the former British colony had besieged, and broken into, the legislature after a demonstration marking the anniversary of return to Chinese rule.

China called the violence an “undisguised challenge” to the “one country, two systems” model under which Hong Kong has been ruled for 22 years. The turbulence in Hong Kong was triggered by an extradition bill opponents say will undermine Hong Kong’s much-cherished rule of law and give Beijing powers to prosecute activists in mainland courts, which are controlled by the Communist Party.