China accuses Hong Kong protesters of ‘undisguised challenge’ to running of city
China has accused protesters who stormed Hong Kong’s legislative building on Monday of “serious illegal actions” that constitute an “undisguised challenge” to the way the city is ruled.
Police used tear gas early this morning to disperse protesters who had smashed their way into the city’s Legislative Council building as part of protests against a now-suspended bill that would have permitted extraditions to mainland China.
The Council building will remain closed for two weeks after protesters spray painted “anti-extradition” and slurs against the police and government on the walls and raised a colonial era flag in the main chamber.
Read more: Hundreds of protestors storm Hong Kong’s government headquarters
A spokesperson from Beijing’s Hong Kong affairs office said it “strongly condemn[s]” the protests.
“Seriously violating the law, the act tramples the rule of law in Hong Kong, undermines social order and the fundamental interests of Hong Kong, and is an undisguised challenge to the bottom line of ‘one country, two systems’,” China’s state news agency Xinhua quoted the spokesperson as saying.
Monday marked the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony returning to Chinese rule under the “one country, two systems” formula. This affords Hong Kong freedoms not present in mainland China, such as an independent judiciary and the right to protest.
The proposed extradition bill was viewed by protesters, millions of whom have taken to the streets in recent weeks in largely peaceful protests, as a fundamental challenge to these freedoms.
Lawyers and human rights campaigners have said that China’s justice system is marked by torture, forced confessions, and unjustified detentions.
The bill also triggered a backlash against Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam. Lam has suspended the bill and said it will lapse next year, but protesters have called for it to be scrapped and for her to resign.
Chinese censors have erased or blocked news of the protests, concerned they could trigger rallies or unrest on the mainland.
State news agency Xinhua published an upbeat Chinese-language report about a government-arranged concert in Hong Kong to celebrate the handover anniversary, including descriptions of the audience singing the national anthem and how the performers showed their “ardent love of the motherland”.