Top US senator's 'slander sends wrong signal to violent radicals'

Official: Washington ignoring facts, defaming central, SAR governments

A spokesperson for the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region denounced on Tuesday remarks made by US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell "as groundless slander that sends a terribly wrong signal to violent radicals".

It was reported that McConnell said on Monday that any violent crackdown on protests in Hong Kong would be "completely unacceptable". He wrote in a tweet that "the people of Hong Kong are bravely standing up to the Chinese Communist Party as Beijing tries to encroach on their autonomy and freedom".

The spokesperson said in a statement that some United States senators are ignoring facts, calling white black and defaming the central and the SAR governments.

China is strongly dissatisfied with, and firmly opposed to, such comments, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said a handful of radical protesters are continuously intensifying their extreme behavior, attacking police in very dangerous and cruel ways and brutally trampling on the rule of law and undermining social order in Hong Kong.

Their activities have seriously threatened local residents' lives, challenged Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and challenged the "one country, two systems" principle, according to the statement.

The spokesperson added that while the US severely punishes those who attack police within its borders, it chose to deliberately ignore the same thing happening in Hong Kong and slandered the Hong Kong police's civilized law enforcement as "repression" of peaceful protests.

This will only help the world to see more clearly how arrogant, biased, hypocritical, ruthless, selfish and bossy the US is, the spokesperson added.

"Is it true that a Hong Kong that descends to 'a place of violence' is what they want to see and is it the autonomy and freedom that they want?"

China strongly urges US politicians to observe international law and basic norms governing international relations and to respect the wishes of the majority of Hong Kong residents to fight against violence, protect the rule of law and support the police, the spokesperson said.

China urges them to know their place, immediately make a clear break with the violent radicals and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs, the spokesperson added.