Donald Trump praises China for its handling over Hong Kong protests and says President Xi Jinping has acted ‘very responsibly’
- The US president has praised China’s response to Hong Kong’s recent protests
- ‘China could stop them if they wanted,’ Trump said of the anti-government rallies
- He also commented saying the city’s protests had been ‘relatively nonviolent’
- Sunday’s violent attack at a train station left 45 people injured and six arrested
US President Donald Trump said he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping has acted ‘very responsibly’ with the protests in Hong Kong over an extradition bill that could see people from the territory sent to China for trial.
‘I know that’s a very important situation for President Xi Jinping of China,’ Trump said at the White House on Monday during an unrelated White House meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan.
‘China could stop them if they wanted’, Trump said of the protests.
US President Donald Trump said he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping has acted ‘very responsibly’ with the protests in Hong Kong over a controversial extradition bill
‘I know that’s a very important situation for President Xi Jinping of China’, Trump said
‘I’m not involved in it very much but I think President Xi of China has acted responsibly, very responsibly,’ said Trump, who last year began a trade war with China that has led to tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in mutual trade, a dispute still unsettled.
‘We’re working on trade deals right now. We’ll see what happens,’ Trump added.
When a reporter suggested that the Hong Kong and Chinese governments were ignoring violence against the protesters, Trump replied that ‘I think it’s been relatively nonviolent.’
When a reporter suggested that the Hong Kong and Chinese governments were ignoring violence against the protesters, Trump replied that ‘I think it’s been relatively nonviolent’
China accused US officials on Tuesday of being behind violent protests in Hong Kong and advised them to remove their ‘black hands’ from the territory.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the comment at a news briefing in Beijing, when asked about the protests.
Escalating violence in the city over the weekend opened new fronts in its crisis over an extradition bill that could see people from the territory sent to China for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts.
Hospital authorities said 45 people were wounded in a subway station attack late Sunday which led to the arrest of six men, some of whom police alleged had triad gangster backgrounds.
After Sunday’s violence critics accused Hong Kong police of responding too slowly. Protesters accused the police of colluding with those who carried out the attack.
‘They’ve been out there protesting for a long time. I’ve never seen protests like it where you have that many people. It looks like two million people,’ Trump said.
‘Those are big protests… I hope that President Xi will do the right thing, but it has been going on a long time, there’s no question.’
Hospital authorities said 45 people were wounded in a subway station attack late Sunday which led to the arrest of six men, some of whom police alleged had triad backgrounds
After Sunday’s violence critics accused Hong Kong police of responding too slowly
Hardcore protesters have stormed Hong Kong’s legislature, and on Sunday some demonstrators targeted with eggs and graffiti China’s representative office in the financial hub, which China’s foreign ministry called ‘absolutely intolerable.’
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said the targeting of the office was a ‘challenge’ to national sovereignty, condemning violent behaviour of any kind.
‘It is groundless for anyone to accuse the government of colluding with attackers,’ she said. ‘Their behaviour was infuriating. We absolutely do not allow and tolerate such behaviour. I have already requested the police commissioner spare no effort in arresting the attackers.’
‘Violence is not a solution to any problem. Violence will only breed more violence, and at the end of the day the whole of Hong Kong and the people will suffer as a result of the loss of law and order. I call on all sectors and the public to safeguard the rule of law and say no to violence,’ she added.
Hong Kong has been hit by a series of sometimes violent protests for over two months – its most serious crisis since the city was handed back to China by Britain in 1997 but with democratic freedoms under a ‘one country, two systems’ formula.
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