Beijing slams Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai and US officials over Washington meetings on extradition bill, using words ‘national scum and Hong Kong sinners’
- Spokesman pulls no punches in stinging statement against media mogul and his sessions with Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo
- ‘Don’t keep going farther and farther on this wrong path’, statement warns the US
Beijing’s foreign ministry has lashed out at Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and two top US officials, accusing them of threatening China’s national security by discussing the now-suspended extradition bill in Washington on Monday.
In a strongly worded statement, a spokesman for the central government’s foreign ministry commissioner in Hong Kong said on Tuesday that Beijing “resolutely opposes foreign forces’ intervention in Hong Kong affairs”.
“[The United States] has repeatedly interfered in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs ...” the spokesman added.
“The Office has made solemn representations to the US Consulate General in Hong Kong and demanded that the US immediately stop the wrong words and deeds. Don’t keep going farther and farther on this wrong path.”
The statement was aimed at meetings between Lai, US Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. According to US Department of State spokesman Morgan Ortagus, they “discussed developments related to amendments to Hong Kong’s Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the status of Hong Kong’s autonomy under the ‘one country, two systems’ framework”.
