China Warns Foreign Powers Not To Use Hong Kong As A 'Bridgehead' [View all]
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
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