US House Foreign Panel Chiefs Urge China To Not Threaten Hong Kong's Autonomy - Statement

US House Foreign Panel Chiefs Urge China to Not Threaten Hong Kong's Autonomy - Statement

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2019) US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Ranking Member Michael McCaul said in a joint statement on Wednesday that China should avoid threatening Hong Kong's autonomy.

"The House Foreign Affairs Committee has called upon Beijing to cease encroaching on Hong Kong's autonomy - it is Beijing's actions that are at the root of the frustration among the people of Hong Kong," the statement said. "No foreign powers are fomenting this dissent."

Engel and McCaul said it would be a mistake for China to attempt to dismantle protests in Hong Kong and any such action would be met with "universal condemnation and swift consequences."

Protests in Hong Kong began more than two months ago after a local legislature opened debates on a bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam declared the bill "dead." However, the protesters are demanding that the measure be withdrawn completely. Protesters have also said they want the city authorities to implement universal suffrage and retract criminal charges against them.

Earlier on Tuesday, addressing the ongoing protests, China's permanent mission to the United Nations accused the protesters of having s displayed a "tendency of resorting to terrorism" by destroying public facilities, paralyzing Hong Kong's airport, blocking public transport and using lethal weapons. The Chinese authorities have also accused the United States of fomenting the protests and made public personal information of a US diplomat being among protesters in Hong Kong.