China’s Ottawa embassy hits back at Five Eyes concerns over Hong Kong
- Aggressive response accuses Canada, the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand of arrogance and interference in the city
- Foreign ministers called for delayed elections to take place and expressed concern for the city’s freedoms
In a statement on Monday, the embassy accused the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the US of interfering in the city, where the government has delayed September’s Legislative Council elections until next year, citing Covid-19 concerns.
“The statement made by Canadian and other foreign ministers ignored the facts, harboured ulterior motives and toyed with double standards, interfered in China’s internal affairs, and was full of arrogance and prejudice, seriously violating international law and the basic norms of international relations,” the embassy said.
The joint statement was issued on Sunday by the Five Eyes foreign ministers and raised concerns about the Hong Kong government’s “unjust disqualification” of opposition candidates and “disproportionate postponement” of the elections, which have now been set for September 5 next year.
They called for elections to be held “as soon as possible” and for disqualified candidates to be reinstated. The foreign ministers also expressed “deep concern” that the national security law would erode Hongkongers’ rights and freedoms.
Western countries have been increasingly vocal after the decision by the city’s embattled leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to invoke emergency powers in late July delaying the September election one day after disqualification of 12 opposition candidates.