China not to talk about Hong Kong protests at G20

ANKARA

Chinese President Xi Jinping will not hold any discussion during this week's G-20 summit related to the ongoing Hong Kong protests, which are said to have been triggered by a China-backed proposed law, an official said Monday.

China's Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Jun said they will not allow interference in Beijing's internal affairs, daily South China Morning Post quoted him as saying.

“I can tell you for sure that the G20 will not discuss affairs of Hong Kong. We will not allow the G20 to talk about Hong Kong matters,” Zhang told reporters at a Foreign Ministry briefing.

Hong Kong has witnessed massive rallies in recent weeks against a proposed law which will allow the government to extradite suspects to mainland China. Protesters have expressed worries that if the law it is passed it will allow China to take in political prisoners.

But what if U.S. President Donald Trump insists on discussing the protests during his meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the summit in Osaka, Japan on June 28-29, a reporter asked.

“We will not allow any country or anybody to meddle in the internal affairs of China by any means,” Zhang said.

Trump had earlier said the Hong Kong rallies were "very effective" without voicing direct support for them.

Massive rallies are planned for Wednesday to put more pressure on Xi and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Jimmy Sham, one of the organizers of the protests, was quoted by the daily as criticizing Beijing's statement.

“It’s like a person has serious violent tendencies and hits members of his family, but tells his neighbors not to interfere in his internal family affairs. Is this reasonable?” Sham told reporters.

Hong Kong, a major business hub and shoppers' destination, is an autonomous territory of China which governs its foreign and defense policies.