On July 3, after the U.K. Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, made comments about “serious consequences” if Beijing breaches the legally binding joint agreement between the U.K. and China over Hong Kong, Geng Shuang, the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry countered.
Xinhua summarized Geng’s statement as follows: Hong Kong affairs have to do purely with China’s internal affairs; the hope is that the United Kingdom will stop overestimating its capabilities to violently interfere in Hong Kong affairs.
Geng made the following statements in his answer to a reporter’s question on China’s response to Hunt’s comments.
“First, after Hong Kong was returned to China, all the rights and responsibilities that the U.K. had over Hong Kong, as defined in the Joint Declaration of the U.K. and China, were completed. Since July 1, 1999, China has been executing its sovereignty over Hong Kong following its Constitution and the Basic Law of Hong Kong. The U.K. has no sovereignty, administrative rights, or monitoring rights over Hong Kong. It is the self-inflated dream that the U.K. is playing as the ‘guardian’ of Hong Kong.
“Second, it is a sheer lie that the freedom of Hong Kong residents was obtained through the U.K.’s efforts. I remind Mr. Hunt, there was no democracy in Hong Kong under the British rule. It was (China) that guaranteed Hong Kong residents their democracy rights and their freedom.
“Third, the violent rush into the Legislation Council on July 1 is a severe law-violation event that breaks the law and damages the social order. It was like claiming black is white when Mr. Hunt says the Hong Kong government is ‘suppressing.’
“Last, I want to stress that Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affair. We resolutely will not allow any government, organization, or individual to brutally intervene. We hope the British government, especially Mr. Hunt, will not overestimate its own capability and violently interfere in Hong Kong affairs. It will be in vain.”
Source: Xinhua, July 3, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2019-07/03/c_1124706383.htm