WASHINGTON
The affairs of Hong Kong are China’s internal affairs and all countries should respect China’s sovereignty, China’s foreign minister said Wednesday.
Wang Yi remarks came during a joint press conference in Washington where U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Hong Kong authorities to respect protesters in Hong Kong.
"We support universal suffrage in Hong Kong," Kerry said. "We have high hopes that the Hong Kong authorities will exercise restraint and respects the protesters’ right to express their views freely."
Wang said the issue was internal and implied that the U.S. should stay away from Hong Kong.
"I believe, for any country, for any society, no one will allow those illegal acts that violate public order," he said. "That’s the situation in the United States, and that’s the same situation in Hong Kong," Wang said.
Although Kerry said that he would discuss the issue with his Chinese counterpart, Wang declined to say whether it was on his agenda.
"We believe that the Hong Kong special administrative region’s government has the capability to properly handle the current situation in accordance with the law, and I am ready to have a full discussion with Secretary Kerry about those regional and international issues of mutual interest and also, our strategic bilateral cooperation," he said.
Thousands of protesters in Hong Kong have staged mass demonstrations against Chinese proposals to change Hong Kong's special election arrangements.
The ‘Occupy Central’ demonstrations began after Beijing’s National Congress Standing Committee decided last month that candidates for the 2017 Hong Kong elections will be approved by a "broadly representative" committee.
The occupation started late Friday, after students boycotted classes for a week in an effort to pressure Beijing into concessions. Protesters, many dressed in black – the traditional color of anti-government protests in the city – numbered 50,000 at their peak on Saturday, according to organizers.
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