China slams US offer of safe havens for Hong Kong residents

BEIJING – China’s Foreign Ministry connected Friday attacked a U.S. connection of impermanent refuge for radical from Hong Kong arsenic a “vain effort to stigmatize" the semi-autonomous confederate metropolis and China's cardinal government.

The connection from the ministry’s bureau successful Hong Kong came hours aft President Joe Biden made the connection successful effect to Beijing’s expanding moves to tighten its power and crush the pro-democracy opposition.

Biden signed a memorandum allowing radical from Hong Kong presently residing successful the United States to unrecorded and enactment successful the state for 18 months, successful nonstop effect to Hong Kong’s sweeping caller nationalist information instrumentality and different measures that undercut the rights promised erstwhile the erstwhile British colony was handed backmost to China successful 1997. It besides comes arsenic China and the United States are astatine likelihood implicit a scope of overseas argumentation and commercialized issues.

The Foreign Ministry said Biden’s determination “slandered and smeared Hong Kong’s nationalist information law, nakedly intervened successful Hong Kong affairs and China’s interior affairs, and blatantly trampled connected planetary instrumentality and the basal norms of planetary relations."

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The U.S. was “weaving lies and slandering Hong Kong’s nationalist information laws, blatantly beautifying the anti-China chaos successful Hong Kong, and presumptuously offering the alleged ‘safe haven,'" the ministry said. “It is simply a vain effort to stigmatize Hong Kong, stigmatize China, and halt astatine thing to undermine Hong Kong done petty actions.”

The radical of Hong Kong and China would respond to specified “shameless governmental manipulation" which is “doomed to failure!," said the statement, attributed to an unidentified spokesperson and posted connected the office's website.

The harmless haven connection is the latest successful a bid of steps taken by the medication successful effect to Beijing's crackdown, including suspending an extradition pact with the territory and different peculiar attraction not extended to the remainder of China, on with imposing visa bans connected Hong Kong and Chinese officials and cutting them disconnected from the U.S. fiscal system.

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“Given the politically motivated arrests and trials, the silencing of the media, and the diminishing abstraction for elections and antiauthoritarian opposition, we volition proceed to instrumentality steps successful enactment of radical successful Hong Kong,” White House property caput Jen Psaki said.

China imposed the nationalist information instrumentality connected Hong Kong successful effect to months of pro-democracy thoroughfare protests successful 2019. Police person arrested astatine slightest 100 absorption politicians, activists and demonstrators, imposed terrible limits connected governmental speech, reorganized the section legislature to guarantee an overwhelming pro-Beijing bulk and demanded that anyone holding nationalist serviceman beryllium their loyalty to China.

Pro-democracy activists successful exile pleaded with Congress past period to walk authorities to supply some impermanent refuge and imperishable exile presumption successful the U.S., aft Hong Kong constabulary confirmed they had a database of much than 50 radical who would beryllium arrested if they attempted to leave.

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There are respective 1000 radical from Hong Kong successful the United States who would beryllium eligible to stay and debar being deported nether what is formally known arsenic deferred enforced departure, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Psaki didn’t regularisation retired extending refuge beyond 18 months depending connected developments successful Hong Kong.

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