New | 'A Hong Kong-version Colour Revolution': Beijing's harshest warnings yet on Occupy protests

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has unleashed some of Beijing's harshest criticism and warnings against the Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong as he met with Secretary of State John Kerry in the United States.

Wang denounced the protests in Hong Kong as illegal gatherings, and warned the Americans not to interfere in what is happening in the city.

“We ask that the American side speak and act cautiously, and adhere to its pledges of not interfering in China’s internal affairs, and not send out wrong signals,” the People’s Daily quoted Wang Yi, who is on a visit to Washington DC, as telling Kerry and other White House officials.

“The core of the current situation in Hong Kong is that some people have deliberately and illegally gathered in the busiest streets and districts in Hong Kong and severely disrupted social order,” Wang said.

Wang appeared to hint that unrest in Hong Kong was similar to the Occupy Wall Street protests or Ferguson riots in the US.

“No country, no society would tolerate this kind of illegal activity which defies the rule of law and hurts the public interests; not in American cities, and not in China’s Hong Kong.”