Hong Kong news – live: China warns UK not to ‘interfere’ in territory as officials ban popular protest slogan
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China has said it would take “corresponding measures” if Boris Johnson’s government pushes forward with its plan to give three million Hong Kong residents the chance to settle in the UK. The Chinese foreign ministry claimed the offer violated previous agreements.
As Beijing faces international condemnation for imposing a new security law on the city, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison suggested his government may follow the UK in offering visas to Hong Kong citizens.
It came as the US Senate approved a bill imposing sanctions on Chinese officials and any Hong Kong police units clashing with protesters. China’s foreign ministry warned of “strong countermeasures” against the US if the bill becomes law.
Mike Pence says China’s national security law is ‘a betrayal’
US vice president Mike Pence has told CNBC that China’s new national security law on Hong Kong is a betrayal of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
“The national security law that China passed and now is imposing on Hong Kong is a... it's a betrayal of the international agreement that they signed, and ultimately it's unacceptable to freedom-loving people around the world,” Mr Pence said on Thursday.
Opinion: ‘With Hong Kong in the spotlight, we can’t ignore the bigger question about China – are we witnessing a new genocide?’
The national security law imposed on Hong Kong should focus Western attention on China’s persecution of ethnic minorities, according to Andrew Adonis.
Writing for The Independent, the Labour peer described China’s president Xi Jinping as “an unfettered emperor in the tradition of Mao” and warned more must be done to protect ethnic minority groups in the country.
Lord Adonis writes:
“We now face not a pragmatic one-party state but a doctrinaire one-man dictatorship. And the dictator, well into his second decade of power after abrogating Deng’s term limits, is determined to stamp out latent as well as actual dissent, even at the price of western trade and collaboration.”
You can read his full piece below:
UK and China to have ‘lengthy, difficult patch’ following new law, expert says
A former first secretary in the British Embassy in Beijing has said there will be a “lengthy, difficult patch” between the UK and China following the passing of the national security law.
Roderic Wye, a Chatham House Associate Fellow, told the PA news agency: “The actions of the UK government in regard to Hong Kong, though telegraphed well in advance, strike a raw nerve with China
which affects to see interference by the US and the UK as being a major factor in the demonstrations.
“Political relations, and high-level exchanges, are likely to be frozen for a considerable period.”
When asked what actions China might take in response, Mr Wye said he suspected they would be looking for ways of deterring BNO passport holders in Hong Kong from applying for passports to allow them to move to the UK.
“They may also seek to insist that the people concerned are Chinese citizens and that the BNO passports are not valid international travel documents, or find other ways to discriminate against BNO passport holders in Hong Kong,” he added.
Prominent Hong Kong activist flees country
Nathan Law, one of Hong Kong’s most well-known democracy activists, has announced he has fled oversea in response to China’s new national security law on the city, according to reports.
“I have already left Hong Kong and [will] continue the advocacy work on the international level,” Mr Law said in a short English message to journalists, reported by AFP.
It is unclear at this time which country he has travelled to.
Here are some reactions to the news that Hong Kong's government has declared the "Liberate HK, revolution of our time" slogan as a potential violation of the new national security law.
Hong Kong’s government has confirmed that the popular “Liberate Hong Kong…” slogan is now illegal under the security law because it “connotes ‘Hong Kong independence’”.
The slogan was chanted often during the months-long protests in 2019.
Tom Grundy, the editor of Hong Kong Free Press, has said pro-democracy demonstrators will likely use “euphemisms” and other tactics to get around the ban on a popular protest slogan.
Some ways of evading the ban on the "Liberate Hong Kong..." slogan are already being used online, according to reporter Kris Cheng.
US Senate passes bill targeting banks over China’s actions in Hong Kong
The US Senate has passed legislation to penalise banks doing business with Chinese officials who implement Beijing’s new national security law on Hong Kong, sending the bill to the White House for Donald Trump’s signature.
The bill passed by unanimous consent on Thursday, one day after the House of Representatives also passed it without opposition.
It reflects growing concern in Washington over the erosion of the autonomy of Hong Kong which has allowed it to thrive as China’s freest city and an international financial centre.
"This is an urgent moment. Our timing could not be more critical," Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, a lead sponsor of the "Hong Kong Autonomy Act," said in a speech urging support for the legislation.
The bill would impose sanctions on entities which help violate Hong Kong's autonomy and financial institutions that do business with them.
China has responded to the bill by saying the US should stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and warned that it would "resolutely and forcefully resist."
More on the US bill which will now be heading to Donald Trump's desk for approval can be found below:
Hong Kong’s protesters ‘prepare for long fight’ as China tightens grip
Our reporter, Ryan Ho Kilpatrick, has spoken to activists in Hong Kong to find out whether they will continue to protest or leave the city following the introduction of China’s national security law.
“I want to stay but I don’t know how I can spend the rest of my life like this,” one student protester told The Independent.
“I’m going to have to get used to either lying about my political leanings or being quiet about it - for the rest of my life.”
You can find the full story below:
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