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US, 3 Other Countries Condemn China's Move to Control Hong Kong

VOA News

   The U.S., Britain, Australia and Canada on Thursday condemned China's
   decision to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, saying it
   would "dramatically erode" its autonomy and threaten its stability and
   prosperity.

   In a joint statement, the top diplomats in the four countries said they
   had "deep concern" about Beijing's action, saying it threatens Hong
   Kong's place in the world as "a bastion of freedom."

   The diplomats -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, British Foreign
   Secretary Dominic Raab, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and
   Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne -- said
   imposition of Beijing control on the territory "would curtail the Hong
   Kong people's liberties, and in doing so, dramatically erode Hong
   Kong's autonomy and the system that made it so prosperous."

   The four Western countries said, "China's decision to impose the new
   national security law on Hong Kong lies in direct conflict with its
   international obligations under the principles of the legally-binding,
   UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration."

   They contended that Chinese control of Hong Kong "also raises the
   prospect of prosecution in Hong Kong for political crimes and
   undermines existing commitments to protect the rights of Hong Kong
   people."

   The four countries said that "rebuilding trust across Hong Kong society
   by allowing the people of Hong Kong to enjoy the rights and freedoms
   they were promised can be the only way back from the tensions and
   unrest that the territory has seen over the last year."

   They urged China to work with the Hong Kong government and the 7
   million people who live there to find "a mutually acceptable
   accommodation."

   Separately, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA that the
   Chinese national security legislation essentially labels peaceful
   protesters in Hong "terrorists."

   "And that's just not something that we're going to stand for. It's the
   actions of the Chinese Communist Party that are forcing the world's
   hands to recognize what they're doing to the people of Hong Kong. We
   stand with the people of Hong Kong," Morgan Ortagus said.