China says US extension of Hong Kong emergency rules ‘tramples’ international law

Name: Multiple overseas rallies mark anniversary of first major clash of 2019 Hong Kong protests
Uploaded: 2021-07-08T02:07:56.000Z
Duration: 2 min 23 s
Description: Multiple overseas rallies mark anniversary of first major clash of 2019 Hong Kong protests

Sweeping sanctions power renewed by President Joe Biden who accuses Beijing of fundamentally undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy

‘If the US uses Hong Kong as a pawn in the game, China has to hold the line,’ says Chinese academic

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US President Joe Biden has renewed an emergency designation for Hong Kong put in place by his predecessor in response to Hong Kong’s national security law. Photo: Felix Wong

Owen Churchill

Published: 10:07am, 8 Jul 2021Updated: 12:05am, 9 Jul 2021

China has condemned US President Joe Biden’s decision to extend a national emergency designation over Beijing’s tightening control on Hong Kong, which he described as an “extraordinary threat” to American security and economic interests.

The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong on Thursday said Washington had employed “unscrupulous gangster logic” to use the city as a tool to suppress China, and “grossly trampled on international law and the basic norms governing international relations”.

“Long gone are the days when external forces arbitrarily meddled with Hong Kong affairs; long gone are the days when one colluded with anti-China destabilising forces to create disorder in Hong Kong; and long gone are the days when others could force us to tolerate actions that will harm our national sovereignty and security through pressure and sanctions,” a spokesman for the office said.

The Hong Kong government followed up with a statement urging the US to stop interfering in the city’s affairs and condemning Washington’s “barbaric acts reflecting the self-proclaimed US supremacy”.

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Multiple overseas rallies mark anniversary of first major clash of 2019 Hong Kong protests

Announcing the extension, Biden said that the situation regarding Hong Kong, including “recent actions taken by the People’s Republic of China to fundamentally undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States”.