-Rebuts Blinken’s comments, defends Hong Kong Police’s legitimate law enforcement action against anti-govt figures
BEIJING: The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday urged the United States to respect facts and the rule of law, and stop interfering in the affairs of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the ministry made the comments in a daily press briefing after the U.S. called for the release of individuals charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion.”
China is a law-based country, and nobody is above the law, Wang said. He voiced support for the Hong Kong police to carry out their duties.
In response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s comments on the prosecution of 47 anti-government figures involved in illegal primaries in Hong Kong, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin defended the Hong Kong police for carrying out their duties in accordance with the law and said the prosecution is a legitimate law enforcement action.
Their arrest and the charges bought against them by Hong Kong police are legitimate acts, Wang told a routine press conference on Monday.
Blinken said in a tweet on Monday: “We condemn the detention and charges filed against pan-democratic candidates in Hong Kong’s elections and call for their immediate release. Political participation and freedom of expression should not be crimes. The US stands with the people of Hong Kong.”
Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor to the White House, also issued a similar statement on Monday, saying the detention “further underscores the PRC’s broken promises to the world about Hong Kong’s autonomy & democratic rights.”
The 47 anti-government figures in Hong Kong were formally charged with conspiring to subvert state power on Sunday, and the case was scheduled to be heard at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Monday.
–The Daily Mail-CGTN
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