- China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom said the Boris Johnson government “will bear the consequences” if it continues to interfere in China’s affairs.
- It comes after the UK said it would not extradite anyone to Hong Kong after China imposed a draconian security law there.
- Tensions between Beijing and London have increased dramatically in recent weeks, amid disputes over issues like Huawei and Hong Kong.
- United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in London on Tuesday, with plans to pressure the United Kingdom to take further action against China.
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The UK “will bear the consequences” for scrapping its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, the Chinese ambassador warned, adding that the Boris Johnson government had “contravened international law and the basic rules governing international relations.”
Dominic Raab, the UK’s foreign secretary, said on Monday that the UK would no longer extradite anyone to Hong Kong after China imposed a contested security law there that has already seen hundreds of protesters arrested in favor of democracy. He also said that the United Kingdom would stop selling weapons to Hong Kong.
China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Liu Xiaoming, responded by saying that the United Kingdom “had blatantly interfered in China’s internal affairs” and had threatened unspecified consequences.
Chinese Communist Party officials indicated last week that Beijing could respond by imposing economic sanctions on British companies operating in China, including Jaguar Land Rover and GlaxoSmithKline.
The escalation in tensions comes as Mike Pompeo, the United States Secretary of State, arrived in London to discuss issues including how to counter China’s growing economic and diplomatic power.
Last week, Johnson said he would ban Huawei equipment from the UK’s 5G network amid concerns that the tech giant will share information with the Chinese state. Boris Johnson also angered China by offering visas to 3 million Hong Kong residents amid concerns over the new security law.
“We appreciate the news that the UK will ban new purchases of 5G equipment from Huawei and will phase out existing Huawei equipment from its 5G telecommunications networks,” the US State Department said in a statement about Pompeo’s visit to London. .
“The United Kingdom made this important decision to protect its national security interests, just as countries around the world are doing.”
“Allowing unreliable high-risk providers, such as Huawei, to enter any part of 5G networks makes critical systems vulnerable to disruption, tampering, and eavesdropping, and puts confidential government information at risk , commercial and personal “.
