Honk Kong, Trump signs pro-democracy law: China threatens countermeasures

2019-11-28T05:04:44.018Z

China threatens "harsh countermeasures" to the United States after the US president, Donald Trump, signed the Hong Kong law on human rights and democracy, which provides for the annual renewal of Washington's special status to the former British colony and paves the way for sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials accused of violating the freedoms granted to the former colony. "We urge the US not to act arbitrarily, or else China will have to firmly fight back and the United States will have to bear all its consequences", writes the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement released today in which it accuses Washington of "sinister intentions and hegemonic nature ". Hong Kong is "an internal affair" of China and, with the law signed today by Trump, the note reads, the United States "aims to damage the 'one country, two systems' model" on which Beijing has committed after having regained the sovereignty of the former colony in 1997. Condemnation of the law also came from the office of the Chinese government that deals with relations with the former colonies of Hong Kong and Macao, which accuses the United States of being behind anti-government protests , resulted in chaos and battles between police and protesters in recent weeks. Instead, the Hong Kong administration has expressed "extreme regret" at the signing of the law, defined as "useless and unjustified" and which damages relations and "sends a wrong message to the protesters", without helping to alleviate the situation. China had already convened US diplomats in Beijing last week to protest against the go-ahead by the US Congress to the law, which is signed at a time when China and the United States seem to be approaching the signing of the phase one agreement on the tariff dispute . Trump, who claims to be with both Xi and Hong Kong, has also signed a second measure prohibiting the sale in Hong Kong of tear gas, rubber bullets and other materials used by the police, in a message in support of anti protests -government going on for almost six months in Hong Kong. The White House's message aims at not raising controversy with Beijing. With the signing of the two provisions, which have bipartisan support, the White House hopes that China and Hong Kong will be able to resolve their differences amicably and reach "peace and long-term prosperity for all".