‘Attempts to curb China’s rise doomed to fail’

The Foreign Ministry’s top representative in Hong Kong says Beijing will oppose external interference in the SAR more vigorously going forward, warning that any attempt to thwart China’s development is doomed to fail.

The comment came just days after G7 leaders took China to task over alleged rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and called for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait – all issues deemed highly sensitive for Beijing.

Speaking at a forum on Wednesday to mark the 100-year anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, Liu Guangyuan emphasized the need for Beijing to enact the anti-sanctions law, saying China has every right to fight back against forces which “sanction, smear and attack the country”.

“The law of the People’s Republic of China countering foreign sanctions is exactly out of the pressing need to fight back against ‘hegemonism’ and power politics,” the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the SAR said.

Liu added that he had a solemn message for “the small handful of anti-China forces”.

“The dignity, the legitimate rights of the Chinese people are not to be undermined; the historical trend towards the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation – under the Communist Party’s leadership – is not to be stopped,” he said.

“Any attempt… to interfere in China’s internal affairs or curb China’s development is doomed to fail.”

Speaking at the same function, a deputy director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, Tan Tieniu, said President Xi Jinping responded calmly to the “challenges” in the SAR by implementing the national security law and changes to the electoral system.

He said the future of Hong Kong is even brighter with its increasing participation in the Greater Bay Area plan and the integration with the national economy.