Hong Kong: Chinese Ambassador Warns UK Over 'Interference'

China has warned the UK not to interfere with Hong Kong following the imposition by Beijing of a sweeping new national security law.

Ambassador Liu Xiaoming said the UK's offer of a path to citizenship for up to three million Hong Kongers amounted to "gross interference".

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab rejected the accusation.

Opponents of the new law say it erodes Hong Kong's freedoms as a semi-autonomous region.

Earlier, the Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong issued a plea for the world to stand in solidarity with the territory.

Ambassador Liu said he hoped the UK would reconsider its citizenship offer.

"The UK government keeps making irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs," he told a virtual news conference.

The UK has argued that China has reneged on an agreement that took effect in 1997, which offered certain freedoms to Hong Kong for 50 years in return for handing the territory back to Beijing.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab insisted the plan to allow millions of British Nationals (Overseas) to come to the UK did not represent interference in China's domestic affairs.

"We want a positive relationship with China... but the real issue here is one of trust, and whether China can be trusted to live up to its international obligations and its international responsibilities," he said.

- bbc.com