Britain denies supporting violent Hong Kong protests as China media slam 'Western ideologues'

by Costas Pitas, Ben Blanchard

 

FILE PHOTO: Anti-extradition bill protesters stand behind a barricade during a demonstration near a flag raising ceremony for the anniversary of Hong Kong handover to China in Hong Kong, China July 1, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

 

LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday that he had not backed violent protests in Hong Kong, after Chinese state media blamed “Western ideologues” for fomenting unrest in the former British colony.

 

Hundreds of protesters broke into the Hong Kong legislature on Monday after a demonstration marking the anniversary of the return to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that includes freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including the right to protest.

 

That followed weeks of protests against a now-suspended extradition bill that opponents say would undermine Hong Kong’s much-cherished rule of law and give Beijing powers to prosecute activists in mainland courts, which are controlled by the Communist Party.

 

China has stepped up a war of words with Britain over Hong Kong, especially after Hunt warned of consequences if China neglects commitments made when it took back Hong Kong to allow its way of life for at least 50 years.

 

State media in particular has blamed London, Washington and other Western capitals for offering succour to the demonstrators.

 

“Ideologues in Western governments never cease in their efforts to engineer unrest against governments that are not to their liking, even though their actions have caused misery and chaos in country after country in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia,” the official China Daily said in an editorial.

 

“Now they are trying the same trick in China,” the English-language newspaper said.

 

Hunt, speaking to BBC radio, reiterated his condemnation of the violence.

 

“Let me be clear what I said. I said that I condemned, and we as the United Kingdom condemn, all violence and that people who supported the pro-democracy demonstrators would have been very dismayed by the scenes they saw,” said Hunt, who is vying to become Britain’s next prime minister.

 

China has said Britain has no more responsibility for Hong Kong. Britain says it still considers the Joint Declaration in 1984 on the terms of the return of Hong Kong, which guarantees its freedoms, to be valid.

 

“I don’t think it’s a big surprise that China would react that way but they need to understand that Britain is a country that honors its international obligations and what I was saying was something very uncontroversial, actually, which is that we signed an agreement in 1984 which lasts for 50 years and we would expect all sides to honor that agreement,” Hunt said.

 

“Hong Kong has an independent judiciary and it’s not for me as foreign secretary of the UK to second guess how that judiciary works. What I was saying was that there would be serious consequences if the legally binding international agreement between the UK and China, if that was violated.”

 

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May also said China must respect the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong and that she had been in touch with Beijing to raise concerns.

 

Hunt warned on Tuesday of consequences if China did not abide by the Sino-British Joint Declaration. His comments were met by a sharp rebuke from China’s ambassador to the UK, who told Britain to keep its hands off Hong Kong.

 

Speaking at a daily news briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang did not offer any new criticism about Britain having the day before accused Hunt of being “shameless” for his remarks on Hong Kong.

 

“For the time being today, I’ll restrain myself and won’t say anymore. But if certain people in Britain obstinately stick to the wrong path, and keep repeating their mistakes, then I fear I may have more to say.”

 

Widespread damage inside the Legislative Council building, where protesters smashed furniture and daubed graffiti over chamber walls, forced the government to close it for two weeks.

 

The Legislative Council Commission is due to hold a closed-door special meeting at an undisclosed venue later on Thursday.

 

The China Daily accused Western forces of instigating unrest against Hong Kong’s government “as a means to put pressure on the central government”.

 

“The violent behavior that these Western agitators are emboldening tramples on the rule of law in Hong Kong and undermines its social order,” it said.

 

An editorial in the widely read tabloid The Global Times, published by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily, criticized Hunt’s comments and said “the UK’s diplomacy toward China will pay for his behavior”.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-04

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Don't deny it, support 100%. It's the last frontier of democracy in Asia. Fight da powwah!

This is a clear example of why China cannot be trusted.

 

it amazes me how countries including the UK allow so much investment in core infrastructure from China, basically potentially enslaving themselves to future China when a disagreement occurs or the %*#* inevitably hits the fan.

 

 

next will be that China slams a Martial law upon the Island...

 

forcibly remove any and all protestors to the mainland, irregardless of any agreements...

 

replenish HK's enforced depletion of (to-be-jailed) population with new hordes of mainlanders

 

 

the protestors might have become their own worst enemy, in shooting themselves in the foot, by taunting the big bear.

Jeez! the proposal has been shelved, so why bait the Reds further?

 

For the politburo, the protesters are doing exaxctly what they were hoping for...

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“I don’t think it’s a big surprise that China would react that way but they need to understand that Britain is a country that honors its international obligations and what I was saying was something very uncontroversial, actually, which is that we signed an agreement in 1984 which lasts for 50 years and we would expect all sides to honor that agreement,” Hunt said.

China never did and never will honor any/all agreements because honor is not part of their vocabulary, it surprises me that Trump keeps asking them to sign a deal knowing they will not honor it. UK was merely pointing out Chinese disregard for international laws/good faith and trust, it's like speaking to a wall and they will get upset because Chinese don't like to be questioned on their honor because they have NONE

19 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Don't deny it, support 100%. It's the last frontier of democracy in Asia. Fight da powwah!

Well, yeah, if you forget Vietnam and Laos...............

Reported derogatory remark removed.

and now that western news started reports about the Uighur genocide we have to wait for their reply, sure they will have a plausible one like the one they use to separate the kids from their families, it's in the name of the party and brain wash

On 7/4/2019 at 7:56 PM, snoop1130 said:

Chinese state media blamed “Western ideologues” for fomenting unrest in the former British colony.

"Western ideologues" = people opposed to a totalitarian police state that puts one million people in concentration camps because of their religion. 

And in news today one of the UK car companies say they are going to invest millions in China for car production.

4 hours ago, zydeco said:

"Western ideologues" = people opposed to a totalitarian police state that puts one million people in concentration camps because of their religion. 

and with all the evidence provided they still claim it didn't happen.... what pissed me the must was the local government representative smiling while denying the report. Uighur's are not Chinese, they don't look chinese, they don't have any chinese ancestry, don't have chinese blood, they don't speak chinese, they belong to Eastern Europe as the Kyrgys, Tajik, Uzbeks, Kazak...

4 hours ago, overherebc said:

And in news today one of the UK car companies say they are going to invest millions in China for car production.

are you sure it's a UK car company, or is it one already OWNED by the chinese

5 hours ago, Mavideol said:

and now that western news started reports about the Uighur genocide we have to wait for their reply, sure they will have a plausible one like the one they use to separate the kids from their families, it's in the name of the party and brain wash

Do tell us more about the Uighur genocide?

 

Or do you mean the ones perpetrated by the Uighurs in Kunming, Kashgar, the Xinjiang mines, Bangkok, and a host of other places? Death toll running into thousands.

4 hours ago, zydeco said:

"Western ideologues" = people opposed to a totalitarian police state that puts one million people in concentration camps because of their religion. 

Would you still be a fan if you had been at the Erawan Shrine attack with your family?

 

 22 dead 120 injured. For what?

 

Ideology. The idea that non-Muslims should be slaughtered by any means possible.

4 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Do tell us more about the Uighur genocide?

 

Or do you mean the ones perpetrated by the Uighurs in Kunming, Kashgar, the Xinjiang mines, Bangkok, and a host of other places? Death toll running into thousands.

since you are the smart one, please, answer, if somebody comes to your house, intrudes in your life, tries to force their ideologies in you and your family, separates you from your loved ones under the pretext of cultural differences, takes all your pride away (hope you still have some, you claim to be French, if that's the case we are proud people) if all of that  and more like that happen wouldn't you defend your family, your home, wouldn't you protect your loved ones, I know I would. Uighurs acted in self defense because they were forced to, Chinese try to do the same back in Tibet but at least the Tibetans look a little ore chinese than the Uighurs, so go ahead spit it out and whatever you say just provide supporting evidence, I don't have too, BBC, Sky News, DW and the human rights representative already provided enough to support their claims

Here's the depth of your knowledge. I'm not French, not have I ever claimed to be. I'm a Brit and have declared so several times.

 

There was no self-defense involved in the Uighur attacks. They were affiliated to ISIS, and shouted it loud and proud.

 

If people in my community are throwing petrol bombs into crowded markets on Saturday morning to maximise the death toll, locking teenage Han girls in their clothes shops and setting them on fire in order to burn them alive, slaughtering sleeping workers in their beds between shifts, and hacking random passengers in a train station concourse with machetes, then I'm supporting any measures that are taken to stop them.

 

The western press you quote conveniently forgot to mention all of this and sobbed on about Ethic Cleansing  and Islamophobia.

 

As you are so well read on the subject you should know that Xinjiang borders four of the 'Stans, most of the border being open countryside in mountainous territory. As far back as 2010 China found that ISIS were setting up training camps in these regions and the cuddly Uighurs, encouraged by their Imams were attending in droves, and bringing back that murderous knowledge and spreading it on their own patch. Hence those attacks I detailed up above, all carried out by Uighurs within China. The borders are so porous up there due to the terrain that Khazaks, Afghans, Kyrgics came and went as they liked just as terrorists like to do.

 

So the 'concentration camps' as western journalists and tree huggers are wont to call them or 'education centres' were opened. If the Chinese Government has evidence of travel between the 'Stans and China, they want to know what it was about. If you were a leading member of your Mosque, they want to know what you were preaching. If you were in any contact with any of the murderers or their relatives or attended the same mosque, they want to know what risk you represent. If you are a dedicated Muslim, they want to know what the risk of future extremism is.

 

As a second string to the bow, they teach the signs of extremism to others in the community. They teach basic security, what to watch for, suspicious purchases, furtive actions, excessive phone use. The terrorists were using WhatsApp, which you may know is encrypted, when the rest of China uses WeChat, which isn't. The only convenient thing about WhatsApp is that it's phone number driven so foreign calls are apparent, even if their content isn't.

 

In short. It's nothing to do with Ethnic Cleansing. Its to do with stamping out extremism in a vulnerable area of China.  Maybe it's a little extreme in itself, but I'm pretty convinced I know which the populace would prefer and it' not market place bombs while they're shopping.

 

You can choose to believe it or not. It's immaterial.

 

 

1 hour ago, Mavideol said:

are you sure it's a UK car company, or is it one already OWNED by the chinese

Was eating breakfast and not concentrating but checking on it it's VW investing 70 bill' in USA and China ( and Poland?? ) and not in UK.

Jaguar are re-tooling to produce an electric version of the XJ in UK promising 1200 jobs.

Edited July 6, 20197 yr by overherebc

17 hours ago, Traubert said:

Here's the depth of your knowledge. I'm not French, not have I ever claimed to be. I'm a Brit and have declared so several times.

 

There was no self-defense involved in the Uighur attacks. They were affiliated to ISIS, and shouted it loud and proud.

 

If people in my community are throwing petrol bombs into crowded markets on Saturday morning to maximise the death toll, locking teenage Han girls in their clothes shops and setting them on fire in order to burn them alive, slaughtering sleeping workers in their beds between shifts, and hacking random passengers in a train station concourse with machetes, then I'm supporting any measures that are taken to stop them.

 

The western press you quote conveniently forgot to mention all of this and sobbed on about Ethic Cleansing  and Islamophobia.

 

As you are so well read on the subject you should know that Xinjiang borders four of the 'Stans, most of the border being open countryside in mountainous territory. As far back as 2010 China found that ISIS were setting up training camps in these regions and the cuddly Uighurs, encouraged by their Imams were attending in droves, and bringing back that murderous knowledge and spreading it on their own patch. Hence those attacks I detailed up above, all carried out by Uighurs within China. The borders are so porous up there due to the terrain that Khazaks, Afghans, Kyrgics came and went as they liked just as terrorists like to do.

 

So the 'concentration camps' as western journalists and tree huggers are wont to call them or 'education centres' were opened. If the Chinese Government has evidence of travel between the 'Stans and China, they want to know what it was about. If you were a leading member of your Mosque, they want to know what you were preaching. If you were in any contact with any of the murderers or their relatives or attended the same mosque, they want to know what risk you represent. If you are a dedicated Muslim, they want to know what the risk of future extremism is.

 

As a second string to the bow, they teach the signs of extremism to others in the community. They teach basic security, what to watch for, suspicious purchases, furtive actions, excessive phone use. The terrorists were using WhatsApp, which you may know is encrypted, when the rest of China uses WeChat, which isn't. The only convenient thing about WhatsApp is that it's phone number driven so foreign calls are apparent, even if their content isn't.

 

In short. It's nothing to do with Ethnic Cleansing. Its to do with stamping out extremism in a vulnerable area of China.  Maybe it's a little extreme in itself, but I'm pretty convinced I know which the populace would prefer and it' not market place bombs while they're shopping.

 

You can choose to believe it or not. It's immaterial.

 

 

 UK people also have pride and protect their families against any oppression that started long time ago, pity you mention 2010 as a reference, go back before that, around 1947-48... Xinjiang was never part of China until they invaded it like they did in Tibet. Was in old town Kashgar in 2002 visited it back in 2012 and it was another word, all the traditional Uighur homes destroyed and replaced with high rise buildings, maybe you should go and assess by yourself..... now the reference to WetChat makes me laugh because it's 100% controlled by the party, sure they don't allow western apps (instagram, Whattapp, Facebook, etc.) because they are encrypted and the party can not control it, same for western business TRYING to operate in China and to finalize, as I said some time ago, I don't think you are a UK citizen but merely a chinese citizen trying/pretend to be somebody else and only down palying any negative on the chinese, you are doing ok, not too bad,  keep the denial