Vain try: China slams US supply of secure haven for Hong Kong residents

China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday attacked a US supply of momentary refuge for individuals from Hong Kong as a “useless try and stigmatise” the semi-autonomous southern metropolis and China’s central authorities.

The assertion from the ministry’s workplace in Hong Kong got here hours after President Joe Biden made the supply in response to Beijing’s growing strikes to tighten its management and crush the pro-democracy opposition.Biden signed a memorandum permitting individuals from Hong Kong presently residing within the United States to stay and work within the nation for 18 months, in direct response to Hong Kong’s sweeping new nationwide safety regulation and different measures that undercut the rights promised when the previous British colony was handed again to China in 1997. It additionally comes as China and the United States are at odds over a variety of international coverage and commerce points.The Foreign Ministry mentioned Biden’s transfer “slandered and smeared Hong Kong’s national security law, nakedly intervened in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs, and blatantly trampled on international law and the basic norms of international relations.”The US was “weaving lies and slandering Hong Kong’s national security laws, blatantly beautifying the anti-China chaos in Hong Kong, and presumptuously offering the so-called safe haven,'” the ministry said. “It is a vain attempt to stigmatize Hong Kong, stigmatize China, and stop at nothing to undermine Hong Kong through petty actions.”The individuals of Hong Kong and China would reply to such “shameless political manipulation” which is “doomed to failure!,” said the statement, attributed to an unidentified spokesperson and posted on the office’s website.The safe haven offer is the latest in a series of steps taken by the administration in response to Beijing’s crackdown, including suspending an extradition treaty with the territory and other special treatment not extended to the rest of China, along with imposing visa bans on Hong Kong and Chinese officials and cutting them off from the US financial system.“Given the politically motivated arrests and trials, the silencing of the media, and the diminishing space for elections and democratic opposition, we will continue to take steps in support of people in Hong Kong,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned.China imposed the nationwide safety regulation on Hong Kong in response to months of pro-democracy road protests in 2019. Police have arrested at the least 100 opposition politicians, activists and demonstrators, imposed extreme limits on political speech, reorganized the native legislature to make sure an awesome pro-Beijing majority and demanded that anybody holding public officer show their loyalty to China.Pro-democracy activists in exile pleaded with Congress final month to go laws to offer each momentary refuge and everlasting refugee standing within the US, after Hong Kong police confirmed they’d a listing of greater than 50 individuals who can be arrested in the event that they tried to go away.There are a number of thousand individuals from Hong Kong within the United States who can be eligible to stay and keep away from being deported below what’s formally often called deferred enforced departure, in line with the Department of Homeland Security.Psaki did not rule out extending refuge past 18 months relying on developments in Hong Kong.