BEIJING – China summoned a U.S. envoy in Beijing on Friday to protest against remarks by Washington about Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill.
Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng summoned Robert Forden, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Beijing, to lodge the protest, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
Le said China did not accept foreign forces meddling in Hong Kong affairs. “China called on the United States … to immediately stop all interference in Hong Kong’s affairs and stop taking action that would affect the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong,” the statement said. “China will proceed with its next step based on the action taken by the U.S.”
At the same time, China called on the United States not to pass legislation in response to a crisis in Hong Kong over a proposed extradition law.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing that any plots to bring chaos to Hong Kong would not succeed, after U.S. lawmakers on Thursday proposed legislation that would require the U.S. secretary of state to issue an annual certification of Hong Kong’s autonomy to justify special treatment under the U.S. Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992.
Beijing warned the U.S. not to interfere with current situation in Hong Kong, which it considers an internal affair.
About 1 million people took to the streets of Hong Kong in protest of Beijing’s increasing interference with the territory’s rule of law and autonomy. They have been expressing deep distrust and worries the former British colony’s residents have about the communist party’s breach of its promise about Hong Kong’s high-level autonomy — especially after a series of kidnapping cases believed to have been conducted in Hong Kong and Thailand by mainland police in the past couple of years.