China says UK sheltering ‘wanted criminals’ by granting asylum to HK fugitives
China says the UK is sheltering “wanted criminals” by granting political asylum to fugitives from Hong Kong, China’s global financial hub city.
“The UK is clearly a platform for Hong Kong independence agitators, and provides so-called shelter for wanted criminals,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a press conference on Thursday.
His remarks came just a day after London granted political asylum to Hong Kong’s separatist Nathan Law, angering Beijing.
Zhao called Law, a 27-year-old former Hong Kong lawmaker, a “criminal suspect” and described the provocative move by the British government as “gross interference” in Hong Kong's judiciary.
“The UK should immediately correct its mistake, and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs,” the Chinese official added.
In June 2019, unprecedented anti-government protests hit Hong Kong over a proposed extradition bill which was shelved later but demonstrations continued for the next several months and became more violent, endangering the lives and property of citizens.
Beijing says the United States and Britain have been fanning the flames of the unrest in the semi-autonomous island by supporting separatists.
On his Twitter account, Law said on Wednesday that he was given asylum in the UK after several interviews over a period of four months. He claimed that he had been subjected to severe political prosecution and that he would face risks if he went back to Hong Kong.
China said earlier this year that it would not recognize the British National (Overseas) passport for Hong Kongers after London introduced a new visa scheme in January offering a pathway to full British citizenship for those who wanted to leave the Chinese territory.
The British government has been trying to apply pressure on China to desist from asserting full sovereignty over Hong Kong since the summer of 2019.
Hong Kong has been governed under the “one-country, two-system” model since the city — a former British colony — was returned to China in 1997.
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