China will 'respond resolutely' if UK sanctions officials, says Chinese envoy

China has warned that it will respond resolutely to any attempt by Britain to slap sanctions on Chinese officials following the enactment of a security law in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong.  

"If UK government goes that far to impose sanctions on any individual in China, China will certainly give a resolute response to it," Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to London said on Sunday. 

"You've seen what happens in the United States - they sanction Chinese officials, we sanction their senators, their officials. I do not want to see this tit-for-tat happen in... China-UK relations." 

On Monday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he would update Britain's parliament to outline further measures on Hong Kong and China. Some lawmakers in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party have said the sanctions should be used to target Chinese officials.  

The British premier last week announced the UK government’s decision to ban Chinese technology giant Huawei’s 5G network in Britain. Shortly afterwards, US President Donald Trump claimed he was responsible for the decision.

Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that he would end the preferential economic treatment of the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong. Washington is angry at the application of a uniform national security law to the city by the government in Beijing.

Washington accuses Chinese tech giant Huawei of helping Beijing spy on communications from the countries that use its products and services; a charge both the company and the Chinese government reject.

US, allies deplore China's new Hong Kong security law

The United States and its Asian and Western allies have criticized China’s passage of a national security law for Hong Kong.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Beijing strongly opposed Trump’s move, urging his administration to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that remarks by Trump that he personally convinced the UK government to ban Huawei in Britain show that the ban is politically motivated and has nothing to do with security. 

‘America’s dupe:’ China slams UK over ban on Huawei

China says the remark by US President Donald Trump that he personally convinced the UK government to ban Huawei’s 5G network equipment shows that the ban is politically motivated.

Beijing has said it would impose retaliatory sanctions on US individuals and entities. 

China has repeatedly told Western powers to stop meddling in Hong Kong's affairs.

Last month, Hong Kong’s legislature debated and passed a Beijing-proposed bill, criminalizing sedition, secession and subversion against the mainland.

Critics from some Western governments, particularly the US and the UK, claim that the law threatens the semi-autonomous region’s autonomy and civil liberties.

Beijing, however, insists that the new law does not pose a threat to Hong Kong’s autonomy and the interests of foreign investors, noting that it is merely meant to prevent terrorism and foreign interference there, which were evident in the violent riots there against the government last year.

China denounces UK, US ‘interference’ in Hong Kong’s internal affairs

China has slammed the UK and the US’s interference in Hong Kong’s domestic affairs.

In June last year, unprecedented anti-government protests began in Hong Kong over a proposed extradition bill. The government in Hong Kong dropped the bill later, but the turbulent demonstrations continued for the next several months and became more violent, endangering the lives and property of citizens.

The protesters have been demanding Hong Kong’s full secession since then. Beijing says the US and Britain have been fanning the flames of the unrest in the semi-autonomous hub by supporting the separatist protesters.

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