Chinese President Xi Jinping warns that anyone trying to split any part of country will be crushed
- Comments made during Xi’s visit to Nepal being seen as aimed at trouble spots from Tibet and Xinjiang to Hong Kong
- President’s remarks are also wider warning to US not to meddle in China’s domestic issues, such as Hong Kong, academic says
“Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones. And any external forces backing such attempts at dividing China will be deemed by the Chinese people as pipe-dreaming,” he was quoted by state media as telling Nepal’s leader during a visit to the Himalayan nation.
“The current situation in Hong Kong is grave, and it is a warning to the US and all other direct and indirect forces standing behind the extremist violence in Hong Kong,” said academic Shi Yinhong at Renmin University in Beijing.
“He also referred to Taiwan and any forces intervening in the Xinjiang issue. [Taiwanese president] Tsai Ing-wen has leveraged the Hong Kong issue to raise her prospects in the coming election in Taiwan. It is within expectations that the Chinese leader made such remarks during his visit to a neighbouring country.”