China said it will launch a vigorous counterattack on the UK’s bad deeds (Representation)
London:
China on Tuesday threatened an “aggressive counterattack” in response to Britain’s announcement to suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong following Beijing’s introduction of a national security law for the country. former British colony.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament on Monday that the extradition treaty would be immediately suspended and an arms embargo would be extended to Hong Kong.
“We will not consider reactivating these arrangements, unless and until there are clear and strong guarantees, which are able to prevent the UK extradition from being abused under new national security legislation, ”Raab said.
The decision appeared to infuriate Beijing.
“China will launch a vigorous counterattack against the UK’s bad deeds,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Tuesday at a daily press conference.
“China urges the UK to give up its fantasies of continued colonial influence in Hong Kong and immediately correct its mistakes,” he said.
London was dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, and by the perception that China has not told the whole truth about the coronavirus epidemic.
Raab said he would extend a long-standing arms embargo against China to include Hong Kong, meaning no exports of arms or ammunition and a ban on any equipment that could be used for internal repression , like chains and smoke grenades.
Australia and Canada suspended extradition treaties with Hong Kong earlier this month. US President Donald Trump has ended preferential economic treatment for Hong Kong.
Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered that China’s Huawei Technologies equipment be completely purged from Britain’s 5G network by the end of 2027.
China – once courted as the main source of investment in British infrastructure projects, from nuclear to rail – has accused Britain of surrendering to the United States.
Britain says the new security law violates guarantees of freedoms, including an independent judiciary, which have helped keep Hong Kong one of the world‘s most important commercial and financial centers since 1997.
Hong Kong and Beijing officials said the law was vital in closing national security loopholes revealed by recent pro-democracy and anti-China protests. China has repeatedly called on Western powers to stop meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce and William James in London and Aakriti Bhala in Bengaluru; Gabriel Crossley in Beijing; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
