Ambassador says foreign interference damaging Hong Kong

A recent escalation of violence has pushed Hong Kong into an "extremely dangerous situation", and people in the United Kingdom could help the SAR by doing more to promote prosperity there, China's Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming told journalists in London on Monday.

In the third news conference he has held to address the Hong Kong situation, he said: "I sincerely hope that British people who have the larger picture in mind will have a clear understanding of the current situation."

The ambassador urged external forces to "stop any form of interference" in the Hong Kong situation and China's domestic affairs and to stop condoning violence, adding "otherwise, they would lift the stone only to drop it on their own feet".

Currently, there are more than 300,000 British citizens living in Hong Kong, and more than 700 British companies operate there. Answering a question from China Daily about recent security concerns raised by UK universities and companies for their students and employees in Hong Kong, Liu said: "If chaos continues in Hong Kong, I think the British interests will be affected.

"So that's why we call on the people in this country to have a clear picture of what's going on in Hong Kong and support the Hong Kong government to end the violence as soon as possible."

At the news conference, the ambassador showed a short video presenting how rioters smashed and set fire to property, launched preemptive attacks on police officers, and turned many universities into their strongholds while besieging and attacking residents and students.

The riots have hurt ordinary citizens, Liu said, with one man having been set alight, and "restricted or even deprived others of personal freedom and freedom of speech", trampling on the bottom line of the rule of law, which must not be tolerated, he added.

Liu noted that anti-China, pro-independence activists had recently taken the violence abroad and into the UK, referring to the attack on Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (or SAR) Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng in London by a group of anti-China activists.

Hong Kong's economy is "now in a technical recession", Liu warned, and its international ratings have been downgraded and its global image impacted.

He called on the British people to support the SAR government in ending violence, restoring order and upholding the rule of law, and to resist and oppose any words or deeds that interfere in Hong Kong affairs, so that "chaos will end as soon as possible and the 'oriental pearl' will shine brightly again".

The envoy stressed that "One Country" is the precondition and basis of "Two Systems". "Without 'One Country', 'Two Systems' will no longer exist," Liu said. "Violent offenses that undermine 'One Country, Two Systems' will never be tolerated," he continued, adding that the law must be observed, lawbreakers must be brought to justice and violence must be ended.

The SAR government has engaged in more than 100 events communicating with the local public, and people should "give them time", Liu told reporters.