Taking its dispute and tensions with China a step further, the UK government decided to suspend an extradition treaty that its it had with Hong Kong because of the imposition of the new controversial national security law by Beijing on the city, which is a former British colony, said newspaper reports in the UK.
According to a report published the Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers quoting sources, the suspension of the treaty is set to be announced soon in the British parliament by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. On Sunday, he had accused China of conducting "gross" human rights violations.
If such a measure is taken by the UK, it would be another nail in the coffin of the so called "golden era" of ties with the second largest economy of the world, as had been previously described by UK’s former Prime Minister David Cameron.
But the UK government has reportedly been dismayed by the manner in which China had cracked down on democracy protests in Hong Kong and has subsequently imposed the new law which critics say will crush democracy in the city that is one of the largest financial hubs of the world. London is also unhappy with Beijing over the handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic outbreak and the perception that the whole truth was not told to the world by Beijing about the disease and the outbreak.
The UK government last week announced the banning of the Chinese telecom equipment making giant Huawei from the country’s 5G network by the end of 2027.
China has accused the UK of cowing down to the pressure from the United States over Huawei.
And then on Sunday, warnings of a tough response from China was issued by China's ambassador to Britain, if London went ahead to impose sanctions on any of the Chinese officials, as has been demanded by lawmakers in Johnson's Conservative Party.
"If UK government goes that far to impose sanctions on any individual in China, China will certainly make a resolute response to it," Liu Xiaoming told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show. "You've seen what happens in the United States - they sanction Chinese officials, we sanction their senators, their officials. I do not want to see this tit-for-tat happen in... China-UK relations."
He would not like to comment into speculations on future additions to Britain's sanctions list. Raab said during the same programme. He however denied to allegations that the UK would be too weak to challenge China through this channel.
According to the UK, by imposing the new and controversial national security law in Hong Kong, China had violated and breached agreements made that had been prior to the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule by the UK in 1997. UK also believes that the set of freedoms that have helped make Hong Kong to become one of the largest financial hubs of the world are being crushed by China.
But according to officials in Hong and Beijing,. The new law imposed in Hong Kong was important to plug holes in national security defences that had been brought to light by the pro democracy protests in Hong Kong.
(Source:www.usnews.com)
According to a report published the Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers quoting sources, the suspension of the treaty is set to be announced soon in the British parliament by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. On Sunday, he had accused China of conducting "gross" human rights violations.
If such a measure is taken by the UK, it would be another nail in the coffin of the so called "golden era" of ties with the second largest economy of the world, as had been previously described by UK’s former Prime Minister David Cameron.
But the UK government has reportedly been dismayed by the manner in which China had cracked down on democracy protests in Hong Kong and has subsequently imposed the new law which critics say will crush democracy in the city that is one of the largest financial hubs of the world. London is also unhappy with Beijing over the handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic outbreak and the perception that the whole truth was not told to the world by Beijing about the disease and the outbreak.
The UK government last week announced the banning of the Chinese telecom equipment making giant Huawei from the country’s 5G network by the end of 2027.
China has accused the UK of cowing down to the pressure from the United States over Huawei.
And then on Sunday, warnings of a tough response from China was issued by China's ambassador to Britain, if London went ahead to impose sanctions on any of the Chinese officials, as has been demanded by lawmakers in Johnson's Conservative Party.
"If UK government goes that far to impose sanctions on any individual in China, China will certainly make a resolute response to it," Liu Xiaoming told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show. "You've seen what happens in the United States - they sanction Chinese officials, we sanction their senators, their officials. I do not want to see this tit-for-tat happen in... China-UK relations."
He would not like to comment into speculations on future additions to Britain's sanctions list. Raab said during the same programme. He however denied to allegations that the UK would be too weak to challenge China through this channel.
According to the UK, by imposing the new and controversial national security law in Hong Kong, China had violated and breached agreements made that had been prior to the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule by the UK in 1997. UK also believes that the set of freedoms that have helped make Hong Kong to become one of the largest financial hubs of the world are being crushed by China.
But according to officials in Hong and Beijing,. The new law imposed in Hong Kong was important to plug holes in national security defences that had been brought to light by the pro democracy protests in Hong Kong.
(Source:www.usnews.com)