US President Donald Trump calls protests ‘riots’ and an issue between Hong Kong and Beijing
- Trump’s remarks suggest Washington will stay out of political crisis in former British colony
- It comes after top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi accuses US and other Western nations of ‘fanning the fires’ of unrest in the city
US President Donald Trump has described recent protests in Hong Kong as “riots” that China would have to deal with itself, suggesting the United States would stay out of the biggest political crisis seen in the former British colony in decades.
Ahead of a campaign event in Ohio on Thursday, Trump was asked whether he was concerned by media reports that Beijing might intervene in Hong Kong. He said the city had experienced “riots for a long period of time”.
“And I don’t know what China’s attitude is. Somebody said that at some point they’re going to want to stop that. But that’s between Hong Kong and that’s between China,” he said. “Hong Kong is a part of China, they’ll have to deal with that themselves.”
Trump’s labelling of the demonstrations as riots is certain to rile activists in the Asian financial centre who have called on the city’s government to drop the use of the word to describe the protests, and some diplomatic observers.
Jorge Guajardo, former Mexican ambassador to China, said Trump’s comment “invites a crackdown, precisely at a time when he should have been unequivocal warning against it”.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Trump had rightly pointed out that Hong Kong was part of China, and that the violence seen in the city was rioting.