Don’t offer Hong Kong protesters asylum, Beijing warns Taipei
- Mainland China says it will not tolerate attempts by the island to shelter criminal elements
- Taiwanese leader denies intervention and says it’s natural for her administration to support Hong Kong people seeking freedom and democracy
Beijing has warned Taiwan against offering asylum to Hong Kong protesters, saying it will not tolerate any attempt by Taipei to meddle in the city’s affairs.
Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Monday that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s offer to shelter activists “would not only make Taiwan a haven for criminals but would also put the well-being of the Taiwanese public at stake”.
Ma accused Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of being “blind to the criminal acts of certain violent activists” and of trying to “cover up their crimes by fanning further fiery action in Hong Kong”.
Ma said Beijing would not tolerate attempts by the island to protect criminal elements, adding that all people in Hong Kong were bound by the rule of law.
Last week, after Hong Kong police fired tear gas inside one of the city’s subway stations, the DPP said Tsai had asked her government to offer “humanitarian assistance to Hong Kong people in need of help”.
Ma then lashed out at Tsai and her government for “playing an extremely disgraceful role” in Hong Kong’s unrest, demanding they “withdraw their black hands from Hong Kong”.