Britain and China continue to row over Hong Kong as Jeremy Hunt warns Beijing not to ‘repress’ protests
- Beijing accuses British foreign secretary and rival Boris Johnson of making ‘irresponsible’ comments and questions whether it is a coordinated attack
- Hunt repeats warning to China to respect handover agreement and insists Britain will not ‘gulp and move on’ if there is a heavy-handed crackdown
Britain and China continued to trade barbs over Hong Kong on Thursday with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warning Beijing not to respond with “repression”.
Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry accused both Hunt and Boris Johnson, his rival for the leadership of the ruling Conservative Party, of making “irresponsible” remarks and questioning whether they had coordinated their attacks.
The dispute escalated on Wednesday when Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador, was summoned to the Foreign Office in London over his “unacceptable and inaccurate” remarks in which he accused the British of supporting violent protests and interfering in internal matters.
Hunt insisted on Thursday that he did not support violent protests but warned that not supporting the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, under which Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule, would have serious consequences for both sides.
He told BBC radio that there was no reason why China and Britain could not maintain a good relationship, but warned the Chinese authorities not to respond “by repression”.
“Let me be clear what I said. I said that I condemned, and we as the United Kingdom, condemn all violence and that people who supported the pro-democracy demonstrators would have been very dismayed by the scenes they saw,” Hunt told BBC radio.