WASHINGTON • The Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group has said that China's imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong appeared to be part of a campaign to silence critics and called on Beijing to reverse course.
"We urge the Chinese central authorities to reconsider their actions against Hong Kong's elected legislature and immediately reinstate the Legislative Council members," foreign ministers from Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States said in a statement on Wednesday.
It brought an angry response from Beijing. "I don't care if they have five eyes or 10 eyes. If they dare to harm China's sovereignty, security and development interests, they should be careful of getting their eyes poked and going blind," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily news conference yesterday.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong said earlier that any attempt by foreign states to threaten or pressure Beijing to make concessions was "doomed to fail".
Hong Kong expelled four opposition members from its legislature last week after Beijing gave city authorities new powers to curb dissent.
The move triggered mass resignations by Hong Kong's pro-democracy opposition lawmakers. It also raised further alarm in the West about the level of Hong Kong's autonomy, promised under a "one country, two systems" formula when Britain ended its colonial rule and handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997.
"China's action is a clear breach of its international obligations under the legally binding, UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration," the five English-speaking allies said.
Britain now considers China to have broken the Joint Declaration three times, including with national security legislation for Hong Kong introduced this year.
The US has imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other Chinese officials over the crackdown and has warned of further steps.
China denies curbing rights and freedoms in the global financial hub, but the Hong Kong and Beijing authorities have moved swiftly to stifle dissent after anti-government protests flared in June last year and plunged the city into crisis.
REUTERS
