China warns Britain interfering in Hong Kong will ‘backfire’

China warns Britain that interfering in Hong Kong will backfire, after the former colonial power vowed to give sanctuary to locals who may flee the city if a controversial security law is passed.

The United States and Britain have enraged Beijing with their criticism of planned national security legislation that critics fear would destroy the semi-autonomous city’s limited freedoms.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has further angered Beijing by suggesting that it has time to “reconsider” the plan, which could soon be enacted after the proposal was endorsed by China’s rubber-stamp parliament last week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, said London would not “walk away” from Hong Kongers worried by Beijing’s control over the international business hub.

Johnson wrote in a column for The Times newspaper and the South China Morning Post that he would offer millions of Hong Kongers visas and a possible route to UK citizenship if China persists with its national security law.

— AP