Mr. Shi Ting Wang, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, says western countries want to take undue advantage of the issue of Hong Kong to undermine China’s stability.
“The issue of Hong Kong is by no means an issue of democracy and human rights. Its essence is that western countries want to use Hong Kong as a bridgehead to incite revolution, undermine China’s stability and block China’s development.”
The Chinese Ambassador said this on Thursday at the opening of a high level international seminar on China’s development, and the future of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Accra.
He recalled that Britain colonised Hong Kong more than 150 years ago, during which 28 British governors were appointed over the region, with none being appointed by the people of Hong Kong, adding, “is this the freedom and democracy advocated by the western countries?”
Mr. Shi Ting Wang said after Hong Kong was handed over back to China in 1997, Hong Kong residents enjoyed more democratic rights and freedom than ever.
He said the central Chinese government implemented the “One Country, Two Systems” in Hong Kong, which allowed Hong Kong to retain its capitalist system for 50 years.
The Chinese Ambassador said under the One country, Two systems” policy, Hong Kong achieved unprecedented development, which enhanced its position as an international financial, trade and shipping centre, and also doubled its GDP.
He said while most Hong Kong residents were satisfied with their conditions, others were not.
“Since June this year, with the support of foreign forces, some extremists took the amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance as an excuse and misled the public to stage several massive demonstrations,” the Chinese Ambassador said.
Mr. Shi Ting Wang said whilst Hong Kong residents stopped taking part in the demonstrations, foreign forces continued interfering and providing support “to the few extremists”.
He said China firmly opposed any foreign forces interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs, adding, “the Central Government of China firmly supports the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government to rule according to the law.”
Mr. Shi Ting Wang said it was unfortunate that some still viewed the world with the Cold War mentality and said, the world was a pluralistic place where we could not have a single development model.
He said all that China sought for was to build a community, where everyone lived in a peaceful and prosperous environment.
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said a cardinal principle of Ghana’s foreign policy was respect for the right to self-determination of all peoples, adding, “At the sametime we believe in the peaceful resolution of disputes within and among sovereign entities.”
She noted that Africa’s prosperity was closely linked to China’s peace and socio-economic stability, which in turn, was strongly tied to Hong Kong.
The Foreign Minister said the issues at stake made the seminar crucial and expressed the hope that the meeting would come up with the best recommendations towards addressing the Hong Kong crisis.
Themed, “China’s development and the future of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,”the seminar is expected to throw more light on the crisis in Hong Kong, and build better understanding, towards finding a solution to the situation.
The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong was handed back to China by Britain in 1997, after several years of British colonial occupation.
The Central Chinese Government then implemented the One Country Two Systems in Hong Kong, allowing the region to retain its capitalist system for fifty years.
Since June of this year, there were several demonstrations in Hong Kong over a proposed amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance.
The protests intensified, in spite of the fact that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government formally suspended its work on the amendment.
Source: GNA