Hong Kong Protests: China Blames US Congress for Sending Wrong Message
A U.S. congressional report that expressed concern over the protests in Hong Kong was condemned by China, which stated that the Congress was sending a wrong message to the pro-democracy protesters, and dubbed it as a "deliberate attack" on China,
"The report by this U.S. body distorts the facts and is a deliberate attack on China. We express our extreme dissatisfaction about it," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing, Reuters reports.
He further said that the United States had no right to get involved in the internal matters of China like the situation in Hong Kong.
According to Euro News, tens of thousands of pro-democracy supporters have taken to the streets after the government broke off talks that were aimed at resolving a row over the elections to choose a new leader in 2017.
Earlier, the government had issued notice to clear the streets within a set deadline; however, it is not certain as to what it has decided to do this time.
This former British colony of Hong Kong has already seen nearly two weeks of "Occupy Central" protests against the Beijing-backed government.
A woman wearing a blue dress, to show support for the police, speaking of the demonstrators said: "They are the minority. They are motivated by some forces behind them. They have huge supplies, so many masks - I think it is American money," The New York Times reports.
Some officials are of the belief that the United States and Britain exercise a lot of influence in Hong Kong, due to which China cannot open the nomination process for candidates to succeed Hong Kong's chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, in 2017 as demanded by the protesters. According to the argument put forth by China, doing so might allow the voters to be manipulated and become a puppet of the West.
"Strategically, there is an American pivot to Asia still going on, so can you imagine it will not make use of the current turmoil? This is how the Beijing leadership views what is going on," said Lau Nai-keung, a member of a Hong Kong committee that advises China's legislature.
