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.
National security law ‘Orwellian’, says Lord Patten
The last British governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, has been criticised what he calls “bullying and loutish” behaviour by China.
“What’s actually happened is a complete over turning of the whole concept of ‘one country, two systems’, of a high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong,” he said of the new security law.
“All that’s been scrapped and it’s been replaced by a sort of Orwellian law … straight out of 1984, which enables China to define things like sedition and secession and collusion with foreign enemies in the way it wants, and even take people on trial into mainland China.”
Taiwan advises citizens to avoid Hong Kong after new law
Taiwan citizens should avoid unnecessary transits through or visits to Hong Kong, Macau or mainland China after the passing of a new national security law for Hong Kong, a senior Taiwan government official said on Thursday.
Taiwan’s de facto consulate in Hong Kong will continue to operate, Chiu Chui-Cheng, deputy head of Taiwan’s mainland affairs council, told reporters – describing the new law as “the most outrageous in history”.
The Taiwan government said it received more than 180 inquiries from people in Hong Kong on the first day of opening new office set up to help Hong Kongers.
Japan watching situation with ‘great interest’
Japan is watching events in Hong Kong with “great interest”, its chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday.
Suga added that Japan’s close business ties with Hong Kong were based on Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” governance.
According to a report in The Japan Times, Tokyo is “caught in a dilemma” on the issue since it has been keen to improve ties with China.
The newspaper says Sino-Japanese relations have been steadily improving since both countries agreed to “shelve” territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Arrested man ‘onboard a Cathay Pacific flight to London’
More now on the arrest of a 24-year-old man at Hong Kong’s airport early on Thursday on suspicion of stabbing an officer during protests against a new national security law.
The police had posted pictures on Twitter of an officer with a bleeding arm saying he was stabbed by “rioters holding sharp objects”. The suspects fled while bystanders offered no help, the police said. A police spokesman could not confirm whether he was leaving Hong Kong or working at the airport.
Local media, citing unnamed sources, said the suspect was onboard a Cathay Pacific flight to London due to depart around midnight. A witness said three police vehicles drove towards a gate as a Cathay Pacific plane was preparing to take off and around 10 riot police ran up the bridge to the aircraft.
The suspect held an expired British National Overseas passport, a special status created under British law in 1987 that specifically relates to Hong Kong and provides a route to citizenship, the source told local station Cable TV.
Campaigners call for investigation into whether UK-made arms being used against protesters
Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has called on the UK government to end all arms sales and training for the Hong Kong police – and demanded an investigation into whether UK-made arms are currently being used against protesters.
There have been images and widespread reports of tear gas and pepper spray being used against people protesting the new security law this week.
The campaign group claims the UK has licensed £9.5m worth of arms to Hong Kong since the pro-democracy protests in 2014.
Last month The Independent revealed that the College of Policing – the professional body for police in England and Wales – has been working with the Hong Kong authorities to train its officers amid the protests.
In response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, the body refused to give any further detail on the support that was offered last year, citing an exemption over “international relations”.
Andrew Smith of CAAT said: “The images we have seen from Hong Kong have been appalling. The use of tear gas and rubber bullets must be condemned in the strongest terms.
“There must be an immediate end to all arms sales and training for the Hong Kong authorities, and a firm assurances that sales will not be resumed once the repression is out of the headlines.”
Protester reacts after she was hit with pepper spray used by police (AFP)
Australia to follow UK lead with ‘opportunities’ for Hong Kongers
So what exactly has Australian prime minister Scott Morrison suggested about offering visas to Hong Kong residents? Morrison said the Australian government was “prepared to step up and provide support”.
Asked if Australia would consider offering safe haven to Hong Kong people, similar to Britain, he replied: “We are considering very actively the proposals that I asked to be brought forward several weeks ago and the final touches would be put on those and they’ll soon be considered by Cabinet to provide similar opportunities.”
More here on his remarks, and current relations between China and Australia:
Can Britain afford to stand up to China over Hong Kong?
We’re expecting foreign secretary Dominic Raab to make a statement in the House of Commons later on the plan to offer almost three million residents with British National (Overseas) status a route to British citizenship.
Yet Raab has admitted little could be done by Britain to “coercively force” China if it tried to block Hong Kongers from coming to the UK. He told ITV last nigtht that “ultimately we need to be honest that we wouldn't be able to force China to allow BN(O)s to come to the UK.”
Can the British government really afford stand up to China when there is so much at stake, economically? Our defence and security editor Kim Sengupta has taken a closer look.
China threatens ‘countermeasures’ against US sanctions bill
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said no amount of pressure from external forces could “shake China’s determination and will to safeguard national sovereignty and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.”
He urged the US to abide by international law and stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs, and not sign a sanction bill into law.
His comments came after the US House of Representatives on Wednesday joined the Senate in approving a bill to impose sanctions on groups that undermine the city’s autonomy or restrict freedoms promised to its residents.
If the bill becomes law, “China will definitely take strong countermeasures, and all consequences will be borne by the US side,” Zhao said at a daily briefing.
Zhao also claimed Britain had previously made a commitment not to grant British National (Overseas) holders the right to settle in the UK.
“All Hong Kong compatriots, including those holding British National Overseas passports, are Chinese citizens,” Zhao said. “The British have violated their own commitment by now allowing BNO passport holders the option of staying and naturalising in the UK.”
‘Some could become very careful what they write on Whatsapp and Wechat’
Hong Kongers working in the city’s finance industry have spoken about the potential impact of the new security law.
“I was on a call with Singapore colleagues this morning when one of them asked me about the law and its impact on Hong Kong,” an executive at a regional insurance company told Reuters (declining to be identified citing the sensitivity of the matter).
“I had just started when my boss tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to move on to business matters. Later, all our team members in Hong Kong were told to strictly refrain from sharing opinion on this on calls and social media.”
A corporate lawyer with an international law firm told the news agency that it could change the way in which people in the former British colony “communicate and correspond” from now on.
“I think some people could become very careful in what they write on Whatsapp and Wechat ... as a firm we are not writing anything in any correspondence like that (related to the law) but it could become an issue for some.”
Hong Kong man reportedly detained after shouting ‘long live Liverpool’
A man in a Liverpool FC shirt shouting “long live Liverpool” was briefly detained by police in Hong Kong during protests against the new security law, according to local media.
The In-Media website reported that man was standing across the street from officers conducting stop-and-searches on a group of demonstrators when he made the chant and was detained – before being later released.
The man said he had only “felt the urge” to celebrate his team winning the Premier League, according to the report.
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