China warns Taiwan to stay out of Hong Kong debate

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, Nov 30: China has refuted Taiwan for meddling into Hong Kong’s affairs and warned not to damage Hong Kong’s stability, media report says.

The dawning of independence movement in Hong Kong has left leaders in Beijing a worried lot.

According to a report today on Reuters, China has called on Taiwan to stay out Hong Kong’s affairs and maintained that self-ruled Taiwan was “talking nonsense” about the former British colony and warned it not to damage Hong Kong’s stability.

Disqualified Hong Kong legislator-elect Yau Wai-ching, had earlier wrote a draft letter to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, where in Yao called on Taiwan’s President to qualify Taiwan’s stance on sovereignty of Hong Kong’s New Territories.

Though Yau and her Youngspiration party later retracted the letter, her draft letter was published by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), taipeitimes.com reported.

The same report added that Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) called on the Chinese and Hong Kong governments to ensure democracy and autonomy in Hong Kong after a draft letter from the disqualified Hong Kong legislator-elect Yau Wai-ching to President Tsai Ing-wen was published on Tuesday.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office accused independence activists from both sides of trying to link up and sow chaos in Hong Kong.

“We advise the Taiwan side not to talk nonsense about the Hong Kong issue, interfere in Hong Kong’s enforcement of ‘one country, two systems’, or damage Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Reuters quoted spokesman Ma Xiaoguang as saying in its report.

Chinese interpretation of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, earlier in November effectively barred pro-independence city lawmakers, Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching, from taking office there.

Beijing considers Taiwan as an errant province and never shied away from using force to bring it under its control.

The relations between China and Taiwan have strained since the election of the DPP’s Tsai as Taiwan’s president in January.