China strongly opposes British intervention in Hong Kong affairs, envoy says

2019-07-08

LONDON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- China is "strongly opposed" to British intervention in Hong Kong affairs, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said on Sunday, criticizing some British politicians' Cold War mentality on bilateral ties.

The decision to carry out fugitive law amendments is necessary, fair and reasonable, and in doing so, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and its Chief Executive Carrie Lam aim to make Hong Kong a better and safer place, rather than a haven for fugitive criminals, Liu said during a live interview on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, an hour-long British Sunday morning talk show.

"Every step of the way, we let the Hong Kong SAR government handle this. Instead, it is the British government that was trying to interfere, voicing support for the demonstrators. When the rioters stormed the Legislative Council, they even said that you can't use this violence as a pretext for repression. So they tried to obstruct the legal process," Liu added.

China is not interested in diplomatic bickering, and is still committed to building a potent partnership with Britain to advance the "Golden Era" of bilateral ties, the diplomat said.