On Thursday, Beijing’s top representative in Hong Kong issued a clear warning to the US and its Western allies, stating that if the powers tried to interfere in China’s relationship with Hong Kong, they would receive a harsh response. Luo Huining, the director at China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office, stated that he did not want Hong Kong to be used by Western countries as a “pawn” as tensions escalate between China and Western governments over human rights violations and its treatment of the city.
Huining was speaking at a ceremony designated to mark an education day for the anniversary of the implementation of the National Security law. The new law drew international criticism due to its curbing of human rights and freedoms. Hong Kong was previously freed from British rule and promised a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule in 1997. In recent years, this promise has been repeatedly broken. China, the US, England, and the EU have been exchanging a series of sanctions over the past year as a result of the law and measures taken by China to squash any democratic representation in the city’s institutions. Earlier this week, British politicians moved to request that Prime Minister Boris Johnson expand a list of Chinese officials accused of gross human rights abuses.
Read More: Beijing’s top official in Hong Kong warns foreign powers not to interfere