China Warns Foreign Powers Not To Use Hong Kong As A 'Bridgehead'

[Purveyor]

Source: REUTERS

By Sui-Lee Wee
BEIJING Sat Aug 30, 2014 2:10am EDT

(Reuters) - China has warned against any foreign interference ahead of a crucial ruling on the city's political future on Sunday, saying Beijing will not tolerate the use of Hong Kong "as a bridgehead to subvert and infiltrate the mainland".

China's largely rubber-stamp parliament is set to meet on Sunday, when it is expected to limit 2017 elections for Hong Kong's leader to a handful of pro-Beijing candidates, a move likely to escalate plans by pro-democracy activists to blockade the city's Central business district.

According to state media, an unidentified spokesman from the Chinese foreign ministry's Department of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs said China would promptly "make solemn representations" to any "external force" that interfered in Hong Kong's internal affairs.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) of China, administered by what is known as the Basic Law.

In an interview with state news agency Xinhua on Friday, the unidentified spokesman said "some people" ignored the long-term interests of Hong Kong and the provisions of the Basic Law "to collude with external forces in an attempt to interfere [with] the SAR government administration".


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/30/us-china-hongkong-idUSKBN0GU04M20140830

[msongs]

1. china is not a democracy and most likely never will one nt

[newthinking]

7. China is an enigma. It still calls itself "communist" while it clearly is not

[cstanleytech]

9. Well, neither is the US.

After all its been proven pretty much that as far as making the laws goes we the people have little to no say unless we are loaded with a few billion to buy off the varies elected officials and or a number of SCOTUS judges.

[davidpdx]

2. Democracy can not invade through Hong Kong

Cue the Trojan horse

[newthinking]

3. Of course China is not a model. But people need to pay attention.

Why is China basically warning the west? What are they referring to?

20 years of fairly cooperative economics and other activity with really no direct warnings or confrontation until now? China is doing well, there haven't been any real internal shakeups, why is the nature of our relationship changing relatively quickly?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

4. It isn't really about the West...

It's about an emerging sense of Hong Kong nationalism and other anti-communist movements.

[CJCRANE]

5. Color revolutions, Arab Spring, Ukraine coup, arab uprisings...

The rest of the world sees what's going on.

[pampango]

6. And Russia warns not to use Ukraine as a 'bridghead'. China learns from Russia.

Maybe China's leaders are inspired by Putin's actions in Ukraine. Authoritarian leaders learn from the mistakes and successes of other authoritarian leaders. If I lived in Hong Kong or Taiwan I might see some relevance between events in Ukraine and the Chinese government's intentions towards me. The West really can't or won't stop a country with a strong military from forcefully extending its 'influence' over weaker neighbors.

[CJCRANE]

8. After "shock and awe" on Iraq

"R2P" in Libya, "Euromaidan" in Ukraine and supporting the "moderate rebels" in Syria, the rest of the world doesn't trust us and thinks everything we touch turns to disaster.

It's time to take off the neocon-colored glasses and put away the "spreading liberal democracy" excuse - that dog don't hunt no more.

[Purveyor]

10. ^^^this^^^ indeed! eom

[TheKentuckian]

11. On the money

[EEO]

12. One day, China will be confident enough in itself that it will make a play for Taiwan.

That will not be a good day.