Hong Kong has seen a wave of public unrest in the past few days due to mass protests over a new amendment to the extradition bill. If approved, it will allow China to extradite fugitives from the city.
Beijing has criticised Washington’s “irresponsible and erroneous comments” about a proposed amendment to Hong Kong’s extradition law after the US voiced its concern over the matter, AFP news agency reports.
It quotes China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang, who said during a press briefing:
“We demand that the US… be cautious and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs in any form.”
According to the South China Morning Post newspaper, more than 1 million people took part in Sunday’s protests against the amendment, although the police say that the number of participants did not exceed 300,000.
Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam said on Monday that she won’t withdraw the extradition amendment, calling it “an important piece of legislation that will help to uphold justice.”