China asks Britain to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs

Beijing [China], Oct. 13 (ANI): China on Thursday urged the British Government to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a half-year report on Hong Kong released by the British government recently, reports Xinhua. "Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Hong Kong affairs belong to China's domestic affairs and any foreign countries has no right to interfere. We demand that the British side be cautious in words and deeds, and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs," said Geng. Geng said the policy of "one country, two systems" has scored remarkable achievements since Hong Kong's return to China in 1997 adding that a high degree of autonomy have been fully implemented. He said adding that the central government has strictly followed the Constitution and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China, and given full support to the chief executive and the SAR government in governance according to law. China has strong confidence and unswerving will to continue implementing the "one country, two systems" policy, the spokesperson said. In the six-monthly report on Hong Kong, deposited in the British Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on October 12, the case of the five individuals associated with Causeway Bay bookstore and Mighty Current publishing house was raised saying it "continued to cause serious concern, both in Hong Kong and internationally, throughout the reporting period." It also said that during the reporting period, there were a number of significant developments in the cases of the five individuals; Lee Po (a British citizen), Gui Minhai (a Swedish national), Lui Por, Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kee. The report outlines that British citizen Lee Po returned to Hong Kong on March 24 for the first time since he was reported missing on January 1. The Hong Kong Police reported that he had cancelled his missing person's case and said that he had travelled to the mainland voluntarily, was not abducted and did not require assistance from the Hong Kong authorities. Lam Wing-kee also returned to Hong Kong on 14 June, eight months after his disappearance. Hong Kong police confirmed on the same day that he had cancelled his missing person's report and said he required no assistance from the Hong Kong authorities. Two days later, Lam held a press conference where he said that he and the other booksellers had been held against their will by mainland agents, denied due process, interrogated, required to sign non-disclosure documents, and forced to make false statements. Following the press conference, three of Lam's colleagues contradicted his account in statements to the media. (ANI)