Beijing’s top diplomat in Hong Kong lays down ‘3 red lines’ for America’s local envoy, prompting defiant consulate response

Beijing’s foreign affairs representative in Hong Kong has drawn three red lines for the United States’ local top diplomat that included a warning not to endanger national security, prompting the consulate to issue a defiant statement saying it would continue to express its concerns over the “erosion” of the city’s high degree of autonomy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Hong Kong on Thursday said Commissioner Liu Guangyuan met US Consul General Gregory May to “lodge solemn representations and express strong disapproval” over his mission’s “inappropriate words and deeds” that interfered in local affairs.

The private meeting took place early this week, according to a diplomatic source.

“Liu urged the [consul general] to abide by diplomatic ethics and not to go further down the wrong path,” a ministry office spokesman said. “[He] also drew three red lines for US consul general and US consulate general in Hong Kong, which is not to endanger China’s national security, not to engage in political infiltration in Hong Kong and not to slander or damage Hong Kong’s development prospect.”

In response, a US consulate spokesman said: “While the United States consulate general does not generally comment on private diplomatic meetings, we do not hesitate to express publicly and privately the United States’ deep concern over the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy.”

Last week, two US lawmakers introduced a bill that would require the president to close all three of Hong Kong’s economic and trade offices in the country if the White House decided Beijing had undermined the financial hub’s high degree of autonomy.

The bill triggered a strong response from the Hong Kong government, which urged Washington to “stop maliciously interfering” in its affairs and vowed to continue liaising with partners in the US to enrich ties.