China and Britain’s war of words over Hong Kong has escalated, with the two sides openly accusing each other of behaving inappropriately toward the former British colony.
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt yesterday said that the UK is keeping its options open over its threat of “serious consequences” if China fails to honor the letter and spirit of an agreement that guarantees freedoms in Hong Kong.
“I’m not saying anything about what those consequences might be, that would not be the right thing for me to do as foreign secretary because, of course, you keep your options open,” Hunt told BBC radio.
Photo: Bloomberg
“The UK views this situation very, very seriously; we are a country that has championed democracy, the rule of law and civil rights across the world for much of our history and we see this situation as very worrying,” he added.
Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming (劉曉明) on Wednesday gave a rare televised statement, accusing the British government of meddling.
His comments came after British Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament that she was “shocked” by the scenes of violence when protesters stormed the Hong Kong Legislative Council on Monday.
Hong Kong police have announced the arrest of 12 people who tried to disrupt a ceremony on Monday marking the anniversary of the territory’s return from Britain to China in 1997. Another person was arrested for his alleged involvement in the storming of the legislative building that night.
“The UK government chose to stand on the wrong side, it has made inappropriate remarks, not only to interfere in the internal affairs of Hong Kong, but also to back up the violent lawbreakers,” Liu said.
Britain has tried to “obstruct” Hong Kong authorities from “bringing the criminals to justice, which is utter interference in Hong Kong’s rule of law,” he added.
Liu was in turn summoned to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to explain his comments.
For all that it wants a good relationship with China, the UK feels an obligation toward the people of Hong Kong, which it handed over after 156 years of British rule. That was under a “one country, two systems” agreement negotiated in 1984 by then-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, designed to guarantee freedoms for Hong Kong.
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong frequently invoke that deal and call on the UK to intervene when they feel its terms are being ignored; demonstrators who entered the Legislative Council building unfurled a Union Jack-emblazoned colonial flag as part of their protests.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this week said that the Sino-British agreement “no longer has any practical significance.”
“I would like to reiterate that Hong Kong is China’s special administrative region, it is not what it used to be under the British colonial rule,” Liu said.
Additional reporting by AP
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
Israel yesterday said it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, while Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan. The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan would be carried out. Trump yesterday said that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the