Beijing yesterday warned Washington of retaliation after US President Donald Trump announced restrictions on Chinese students in the US in protest against new national security legislation for Hong Kong.
China also said ongoing unrest in the US highlighted its severe problems of racism and police violence — and exposed Washington’s double standards in supporting Hong Kong’s protesters.
The two sides have clashed repeatedly on different topics and on Friday Trump said that he would restrict Chinese graduate students and start reversing the special status enjoyed by Hong Kong in customs and other areas.
Photo: AFP
Beijing reacted angrily to the moves, saying it was “detrimental to both sides.”
“Any words and actions that harm the interests of China will be met with counter-attacks on the Chinese side,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) told a press briefing in Beijing.
Washington’s measures “seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine US-China relations,” he said.
Zhao seized on ongoing anti-racism protests in the US to accuse the US of hypocrisy, calling racism “a chronic disease of American society.”
Washington’s response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of police was a “textbook example of its world-famous double standards,” Zhao said.
“Why does the US lionize the so-called Hong Kong independence and black violence elements as heroes and activists, while calling people who protest against racism ‘rioters,’” Zhao said.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong police yesterday banned the annual June 4 vigil marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, citing the coronavirus pandemic, the first time the gathering has been halted in three decades.
The police, in a letter to organizers, said the vigil would violate social-distancing rules that ban gatherings of more than eight people.
Organizer Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人), chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, expressed disappointment and urged people to light candles on their own and observe a moment of silence.
However, Amnesty International said a socially distanced vigil should be facilitated.
“COVID-19 must not be used as an excuse to stifle freedom of expression,” Amnesty deputy director for East and Southeast Asia Joshua Rosenzweig said. “With this ban, and a disastrous national security law looming, it is not clear if Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil will ever be allowed to take place again.”
In other developments, throngs of people lined up yesterday at DHL courier outlets across the territory, many to send documents to the UK to apply for or renew what is known as a British National (Overseas) passport amid concerns about the new legislation.
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