A day after the United Kingdom slammed China for the arrest of over 50 pro-democracy politicians and activists, Beijing on Thursday said that Hong Kong was a territory of China and any interference in its domestic affairs amounted to an “infringement on its sovereignty.
“In response to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s statement, China made a strong representation to the UK side,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Thursday.
Hua claimed that Hong Kong was a territory of China and, therefore, any interference in its domestic affairs amounted to an “infringement on Chinese sovereignty.”
“The United Kingdom should abandon its colonizer mentality and illusions about the continuing colonial influence on Hong Kong. It should as well abandon hypocrisy and double standards, respect China’s sovereignty and immediately stop any forms of interference in Hong Kong affairs and China’s domestic affairs,” Hua added.
Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab accused Beijing of abusing last year’s national security law to crack down on pro-democracy dissent in Hong Kong.
Over 50 opposition lawmakers and activists were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of violating the authoritarian national security law, for their part in a primary election run-off last July.
Among the arrested were former lawmakers James To Kun-sun, Lam Cheuk-ting, Andrew Wan Siu-kin, Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu and Wu Chi-wai, as well as pollster Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, who helped organise the event.
Most of those had organised or taken part in primary contests held by the pan-democratic camp last July as part of a “35-plus” strategy to maximise its chances of taking control of the 70-member legislature.