China slams US over sanctions on NPC officials: FM
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China vows firm and strong countermeasures against the egregious act by the US side, to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Tuesday in response to the so-called sanctions on Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) officials made by the US government over Hong Kong issues.

“Hong Kong is part of China. Its affairs are purely China's internal affairs. The US has no right to interfere. The NPC Standing Committee's legislation on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong in accordance with the Constitution to improve governance in Hong Kong and crack down on criminals is totally within China's sovereign rights,” said Hua.

Hua added that for some time, the United States has been meddling in Hong Kong affairs in different ways under the pretext of upholding democracy, human rights and autonomy in Hong Kong, and supporting violent activities that split the nation and disrupted social order.

“Now, the US government is blatantly imposing these so-called sanctions against vice chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, which fully exposes the vicious intent of the United States to interfere in China's internal affairs, cause chaos in Hong Kong and undermine China's stability and development," Hua said.

The Chinese government is determined to oppose US interference in Hong Kong affairs, to uphold China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and to implement "one country, two systems.”

Hua said, “China urges the United States to immediately withdraw this erroneous decision, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and halt its progress down this dangerous and wrong path.”

“In response to the egregious act by the US side, China will take firm and strong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” Hua noted.

(Compiled by Yang Jiaqi and Zhu Yingqi)